She Doesn't Like That
by person226
Summary: Sequel to Her Name Is Love. Highly recomended you read that first. Evelyn and Love are Freshmans in High School and Lois Lane-Kent is a big name at the Daily Planet. When Clark returns, is it for the better or worse? Clois all the way!
1. Returns

Returns

Love took a seat next to Evelyn. She was sitting on a bench at Smallville High. Today had been the beginning of their second semester of their Freshman year.. Right now, they were waiting for Lois to pick them up.

Love looked at Evelyn. She had her iPod on full blast and wasn't paying any attention to Love. Love rolled her eyes as she pulled off one of Evelyn's ear plugs. "You're going to ruin your ears if you have them on full blast."

Evelyn scoffed. "Your not my mom."

"Then I'll just tell Mom when we go home."

"And I should care because…?"

"Just don't do it Evelyn."

"Whatever." Evelyn stuck her headphones back in and continued ignoring Love.

Ever since middle school, Evelyn had changed so much. She seemed to be angry all the time and she was getting into so much trouble at school. Evelyn started hanging around the wrong crowd and it wasn't long before she started getting into more serious trouble.

Ella and Josh, their newest friend, saw them and joined them at the table. "Hello good people." Josh said as he waved.

Love laughed while Ella rolled her eyes. "Hello to you too, Josh."

Josh looked at Evelyn expectantly. "Am I going to get a hello from Evelyn?" he asked no one in particular.

Ella, who had known Evelyn the longest, hurt every time Evelyn would ignore them. She knew that Evelyn wasn't like this. "Evelyn, we're talking to you."

Evelyn looked up and glared at them. "What?" she asked, apparently annoyed.

"Wow, someone can retract their claws." Josh said as he took a sip of his soda.

Evelyn specified her glare towards him. "Why don't you go find some friends that are actually guys?"

"Why would I want to hang out with guys when I can hang out with three wonderful ladies?"

Love rolled her eyes, while Ella snickered. Evelyn continued her glaring.

"Evelyn!" someone yelled out.

Evelyn, along with everyone sitting at the table with her, looked up. "Meredith! What's up?"

Meredith joined them at the table. She was dressed in another one of her skimpy outfits. Her mini skirt was pointless, and her shirt did not cover her pierced belly button. She was a Junior who had a reputation in high school. She and Evelyn were best friends. "So there's going to be a party tonight at Kyle's house. Care to come?"

"Who exactly are you inviting?" Ella asked.

Meredith gave her an ugly look. "Definitely not you." she turned back to Evelyn. "So what do you say?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Evelyn exclaimed as she gathered her things.

"Wait, Evelyn. Did you forget that you're grounded? Mom said that you weren't allowed to go anywhere after school." Love interjected.

"Please, Love. Do you honestly think I'm going to listen to a word that she says?" Evelyn said with a scoff as she left with Meredith.

Love groaned. "Mom is going to kill her."

"Well, at least that'll save her from me." Ella muttered.

"Ella! How could you say something like that?" Love chastised.

"What? It's true! Ever since Middle School, Evelyn's changed completely."

"Ella has a point." Josh admitted. Josh never agreed with Ella. Those two were always at each other's necks!

Love frowned. She knew the real reason why Evelyn had changed so much. Clark had stopped coming. He wouldn't come anymore for anything. And the first time it happened was at Evelyn's eleventh birthday. Love had never heard Evelyn cry so much that night. "I guess."

"Why does she even hang out with Meredith? Everyone at school hates her." Ella continued fuming.

"And how did she even do it? I mean, she's a Freshman and Meredith's a Junior. That's like completely against Meredith's rules." Josh added.

"Evelyn's just…I don't know. A little different."

Josh scoffed. "Yeah a little different. She's a totally different person!"

"Look, could you guys just leave her alone for once? Evelyn's gone through a lot." Love finally said.

Ella stayed quiet, remembering what had happened to Evelyn and Love in second grade. Love didn't seem to have been seriously affected by it, by Evelyn had never really been the same. She was more withdrawn. She would only be truly herself whenever her or Love was around. When they had met Josh in fifth grade, it took a while for Evelyn to accept him. He had transferred from Coast City and was pretty much a beach bum, except his head wasn't full of air.

A horn honked and the three looked up. It was Josh's mom. Since Josh was living a few farms down the road from them, they carpooled. On the way, Evelyn and Love would be dropped off at their house.

Josh turned to Ella. "We'll see you later Ells."

"Josh, don't call me that!" Ella complained.

Josh smirked. "Whatever you say Ells!"

Love smiled. "I'll call you later. See you tomorrow!" Love said as her and Josh started walking towards the car.

"Hello, kids." Josh's mom said once they were both inside. Love was sitting in the front seat and Josh was in the back. "Where's Evelyn?"

"Uh, she went home with a friend, Mrs. Wilkinson."

"And that's fine with your mother?"

"Yeah." Love lied easily.

"Okay." she didn't really believe Love, but didn't want to press her anymore. "How was school?" she asked as she drove away.

* * *

Love opened the back door with the mail in her hands. She flipped through them once, hoping that there was a letter from Clark. No such luck today. Love sighed as she put the mail down on the bar.

Love could hear the bus pulling away and a few seconds later, Caleb was sitting in the kitchen. "I'm hungry, Love. Can you make me a snack?" Caleb decided to skip the formalities.

Love smiled. "What do you want for a snack?" she asked her five-year-old brother.

"Uh, can I have a sandwich?"

"You have to be a little more specific." Love said as she stuck her head in the fridge.

"Uh, one with pickles and jelly and mustard and bananas and some turkey!"

Love made a face as she could only imagine what that would taste like. "How about a normal peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Love started pulling out the necessary materials.

"When's Mommy coming home?" Caleb asked as he took a seat on the stool.

Love looked up at the wall clock. Lois would always try really hard to get home before five, but a lot of the times she would get home at seven or eight. "I don't know. She said that she was going to come home at five this time." it was already four thirty. Love doubted that Lois was going to come home on time.

"What about Daddy?" Caleb asked with an innocence that only a five year old could muster.

Love sighed. Every day after Caleb would ask when Mommy was coming home, he would ask about Daddy. Several times, when he asked the question around Evelyn, Evelyn would explode or storm out of the room, leaving a very confused Caleb. "I don't know." Love gave him the same answer that she always did.

"Where's Evelyn?"

"She's with a friend."

"Who?"

Why did Caleb have to ask so many questions! "Meredith."

Caleb scrunched up his nose. "I don't like her."

Love smiled. "Neither do I." she ruffled his black hair as she placed the sandwich in front of him. Love walked into the living room and turned on the TV. She started watching the news and pulled out her homework. She needed something to do to pass the time.

* * *

Evelyn was sitting in Kyle's backyard with Meredith and several other people that she didn't know. The party was crazy. Loud music was blaring from inside. Dishes were being shattered every five minutes. She was so glad that this wasn't her house. Lois would've thrown a fit. Especially if there were kids drinking and getting drunk, which was happening at that exact moment.

Meredith leaned her head against Evelyn's shoulder. "Come on Evelyn." she was slurring her words. "Just one little drink." Meredith handed Evelyn a bottle half way filled with beer.

Evelyn looked at it. She had never had taken a drink of beer before. And from the stories that she heard, she really didn't want to. "No thanks Meredith." Evelyn said as she pushed away the bottle.

Meredith began giggling. "Oh come on. It's not going to bite you."

Evelyn smiled with no humor. "I think that it is."

"Evelyn! Don't you want to forget about it all? Just throw it down the drain?"

Evelyn thought about home. Things were so tense there. It was like walking on eggshells. Evelyn knew that it was only like that whenever she was there. If she wasn't there, they were the perfect family. Of course as perfect as they could get with a single working mom. Dad was never going to come home. He left them. He may have said that he was going to come back, but it was a lie. He would always lie to them and nothing would change that. He was always going to be a liar. Evelyn knew that she was going to get into so much trouble if she got boozed. But she didn't care. Not anymore. "Give me some of that." Evelyn said as she grabbed the bottle out of Meredith's hand. She chugged a big gulp of it and winced at the burning taste it left in her throat.

Meredith let out a yell. "You go girl!"

* * *

Love grabbed her phone. It was seven and neither Lois nor Evelyn was back home. She sent Evelyn a text. 'Where are you? Mom's going to get upset if you're not here when she gets home.'

Caleb looked at Love. "Who are you talking to?"

"Evelyn."

"Is she coming home?"

"I don't know."

"What about Mommy?"

"Caleb, I don't know."

Love's phone croaked, letting her know she received a new message. Love opened her phone and read the message Evelyn sent. It looked like she had trouble writing the message because more letters were typed than necessary. It would've looked like gibberish to any other person. 'You can just tell "Mom" that I don't care what she says.'

"What did Evelyn say?" Caleb asked as he tried looking over to see what Evelyn had written. Even if he was able to see it, he wouldn't have been able to read anything.

"I'm home!" Lois called out as she stepped inside.

Love quickly shut her phone and stuffed it in her jeans pocket. "Hey, Mom."

Caleb had already gotten up and was now hugging Lois' legs. "Mommy!"

"Hey, Caleb." Lois put down her briefcase and picked him up. "How were you in school today?"

"Good."

Love came into the kitchen where Lois and Caleb were.

"Hello, Lovely." Lois hugged Love with her free arm. "Where's Evelyn?"

"Uh, she's with a friend."

"She's with Meredith again, Mommy! I don't like her."

"Is she really with Meredith?"

Love nodded meekly. "Yeah."

Lois set Caleb down. "I told her to come straight home. Did she forget that she was grounded?"

"I guess."

"Did you even remind her that she needed to come home? Or that she was grounded?"

"I tried to, but she insisted on leaving."

"You couldn't have stopped her?" Lois opened her briefcase and was scanning through some folders.

"What was I supposed to do? You know that she wasn't going to listen to me."

Lois groaned. She had a hard day at work today. Perry was on her case for getting into dangerous situation again last week. Richard was trying to get a date out of her again. She really didn't need to deal with any bad behavior right now. She grabbed the keys to her car.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go get Evelyn."

"But Mom, you don't even know where she is." Love said. She hated seeing Evelyn in trouble, so she tried as much as she could to save her butt, even if Evelyn showed no gratitude for it.

"Love, I honestly don't care if I don't know where she is right now. I am going to hunt her down and drag her here if I have to."

Someone was at the door knocking. "Caleb, don't answer it!" Lois said, knowing exactly how Caleb was.

But it was too late. Caleb had already thrown the door open. Lois walked over to see who it was. Love took her chance and sped off to Kyle's house.

* * *

Evelyn's world was spinning. She saw double of everything and couldn't walk straight. She was definitely drunk.

"Evelyn, look at what they're doing to the statue!" Meredith exclaimed.

Evelyn looked to where Meredith's shaky hand was pointing. "What are you talking about Meredith?" her words came out slurred. "That's a cat!"

They both began laughing for no apparent reason. Evelyn heard a gust of wind behind her. She may have been drunk, but she knew exactly who it was. She turned around, careful not to fall over. "What do you want, Love?"

Love took one look at her and knew that Evelyn was drinking. "Are you drunk?"

"Well I'm certainly not high!" Evelyn laughed.

"I'm taking you home. Mom's back and she's really mad right now."

"I honestly don't care."

Love rolled her eyes. She grabbed onto Evelyn's arm and began dragging her out. Meredith laughed as she waved goodbye. "Ow, you're hurting me!"

Love didn't say anything until they were out of the house. "We are going to go home and you're not going to let Mom know that you're drunk." Love said. She didn't know how Evelyn would pull that off, but she was going to have to. Love picked up Evelyn and ran home, careful not to run too fast.

Love set Evelyn down when they were in front of the farm house. Evelyn held out both her arms to steady her spinning world. She ended up falling over. "Whoa, we should do that again!"

Love gave her a disgusted look. "You are so unbelievable." Love helped her up and started walking inside.

Once they were inside, they heard Caleb's excited voice. "…and then we get to take naps! And I always put my mat down next to my best friend, Robert!" Caleb heard the door open and he ran into the kitchen to see who it was. "Love! Evelyn! Look's who's back!"

Love saw the biggest smile on his face and wondered who could be back. She heard footsteps coming and Lois' laugh. Lois came in with the person that had returned right next to her.

Love's smile grew. "Daddy!" she let go of Evelyn and ran into Clark's arms. Evelyn had to grab onto the kitchen counter to keep her balance.

Clark hugged her tightly. "You look so beautiful, Love!" Clark set her down and took a good look at her.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the father that abandoned his family." Evelyn said bitterly.

Clark looked at her. He couldn't believe that she had just said that. "Evelyn? What-"

Evelyn ignored him as she ran to the kitchen sink. She bent over and threw up.

* * *

a/n: i know, i said i wasn't going to post the sequal until two weeks had passed, but i really wanted to! i really hope you guys like this. read it, comment or review. oh and i'm still taking ideas for main villians. i think i know who i'm going to go with, but more ideas would be great.


	2. Plans

Plans

Clark walked down the stairs. He rubbed his face, trying to take away the fatigue he felt. He may be immune to feeling tired, but he had been pushed to that point. Jor-el had told him that he could no longer visit his family until he was finished his training. Clark had never felt so much pain before. Being told that he couldn't see them had practically killed him. Clark fought Jor-el tooth and nail against it. But Jor-el told him it was for the best. He wasn't training correctly. For three years Clark hadn't been allowed to see his family. It was the hardest thing he had to go through. And then to come home and find Evelyn drunk? It was just too much to handle. What happened to his pretty little bud?

Lois was sitting at the bar with two cups filled with coffee. She had tried helping Clark with Evelyn, but Clark told her he could handle it. "Hey, Smallville."

Clark gave her a weary smile as he took a seat next to her. He grabbed one of the mugs and took a sip from it. He didn't know what to say.

"Are you okay?" Lois asked as she laid a gentle hand on his arm. She really didn't want to talk right now. She wanted to pounce on top of him and finally release some of that passion building up within her. But Clark needed to talk and she could see that.

"I don't know. I mean, I wasn't able to come home for three years, Lois. Do you know how hard that was for me?"

Lois didn't say anything. She just nodded her head and waited for him to finish.

"I wanted to see my family. You, Caleb, Evelyn, Love. But I couldn't. I didn't know how you'd react when you'd realize I had stopped making the visits. I was so afraid that you had decided to move on."

"Clark, you know I could never move on. I love you Clark Kent and nothing could ever change that."

"I know." Clark grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes. "But I was afraid the kids would move on. Love and Caleb didn't and I am so grateful for that, but Evelyn did." Clark looked away. "How could she have done that? Doesn't she know that I love her? That I love all of them?"

"It hurt Evelyn pretty badly when you didn't show up for her birthday. I know it wasn't your fault, but Evelyn couldn't understand that. I tried explaining it to her and it seemed like she understood, but then she completely changed. Love noticed it and so has Caleb. So has Ella and Josh."

Clark looked at her confused. "Who's Josh?"

"Don't you remember? That little boy that you scared at Love's birthday?"

"Oh yeah." Clark smiled fondly as he recalled the memory. He hadn't meant to scare the kid that bad, just enough to make him back away from his girls.

Lois chuckled as she saw that glint return to Clark's eyes.

"So what do we do about Evelyn?" Clark asked after a few moments of silence.

"You need to talk with her. Take her out, just you and her."

"What would you do for punishments?"

"I would ground them for a week or two, but Evelyn seems to just ignore it. She's already grounded right now."

"I'll make sure she listens." Clark said.

"Are you sure Clark?"

"Yes, Lois."

Lois really hoped now was the time for her to take action. "Well then, if you're sure…I think that there's a couch up in the loft that has our name on it."

"Oh really? And how do you know this?"

"Because I missed my husband very much." Lois said in a sultry voice. She got up and grabbed his hand

Clark laughed. "Well I had better make it up to you then." Clark said as he started placing sweet kisses on the back of her neck. He followed her outside and up to the loft where they would share in their passion.

* * *

Evelyn got up and her head was pounding. She winced at the bright sunlight that was coming in from her window. So this was how a hangover felt. She didn't know if she wanted to do that ever again even if it made her happy for a while. She could've sworn that when Love had brought her home that Clark had finally come back. But she had been drunk. It was just her mind playing tricks on her. Clark was never going to come back. She had accepted that a long time ago.

Evelyn got out of bed and started getting ready. She changed into some nice clothes, put on some make-up, cleaned her room a little and walked out of her room to the kitchen. She knew that Lois was going to be mad at her for coming home drunk last night, but it didn't matter. It wasn't as if she was going to punish her severely or anything. Evelyn stopped at the top of the stairs and grabbed at her chest. It was starting to really hurt and for some reason she was having trouble breathing. Evelyn breathed in deeply a few times and the pain went away. It was probably another side-effect of the hangover. She continued walking downstairs. She could hear Caleb, Love and even Lois laughing along with a male laughter. It sounded familiar, but Evelyn couldn't place her finger on it.

Evelyn dropped her backpack at the foot of the stairs and walked into the kitchen. She didn't pay any attention to who was there. It was always the same people. Lois, Love, and Caleb. Nobody special. "Morning." she mumbled as she grabbed out the milk jug and drank straight from the bottle.

"I know I taught you better than that, Evelyn."

Evelyn stopped. Last night hadn't been a dream. It was real. Evelyn turned around slowly. "Daddy?" she whispered to where only Clark heard her.

"Hey, bud."

Evelyn didn't know what to do. She wanted to run up to him and hug him, ask him why he stopped coming. But she didn't. Her feet stayed glued to the floor. She felt her eyes filling up with hot tears. Her joy was soon turning to anger. "You left us." she seethed out. "You never came back. You didn't care!" Evelyn's voice was rising.

"Evelyn, calm down." Lois told her sternly.

Evelyn gave Lois a rude look, wondering who invited her to enter into their conversation.

"Evelyn, you know that I still care about all of you very much." Clark told her.

Evelyn clenched her jaw. "I'm not your little bud anymore." she said. Evelyn slammed down the milk jug and stomped her way outside.

Clark sighed. How in the world was he going to deal with Evelyn?

"Why's Evelyn mad, Daddy?" Caleb asked.

Clark looked at Caleb. He had such an adoration in his eyes for his dad. Clark remembered when he saw that in Evelyn. It was still there, but this time, he had to look hard for it.

Clark felt Lois' hand on his arm. "Don't worry, Smallville. She'll get over it. Trust me."

Clark looked at Lois and smiled. "I hope you're right."

"Daddy look! That's my bus!" Caleb exclaimed as he pointed outside.

Clark looked up at the yellow bus. "Wow, you get to ride in that?" Clark asked, humoring Caleb.

Caleb nodded proudly. He jumped off the stool and grabbed his backpack. "Bye Mommy! Bye Daddy!" Caleb said as he hugged them quickly and gave them a quick peck on their cheeks.

"See you later, guy." Clark said as he walked out the door.

A car horn honked and Love got off of her stool. "That's Mrs. Wilkinson. I'll see you later!" Love said as she was out the door. She came back in quickly and gave both Lois and Clark a hug.

Clark watched Evelyn and Love get inside the car and drive away. He turned to Lois. "Looks like we're all by ourselves." he said, hoping that she would get the hint.

"Actually, Smallville. You're all by yourself. I've got to get to the Planet. You should find yourself a job, though. I don't know if being a farmer with a reporter as a wife will be able to keep up with the bills." Lois said as she grabbed her briefcase.

"Oh, I've actually found a job."

"Really? Where?"

"The Daily Planet."

Lois didn't believe him. "Yeah right, Smallville. I'll see you later." she gave him a much too quick kiss before she left.

Clark was left standing alone in the kitchen. The morning with his family went too quickly for his taste.

* * *

Josh closed the door to his locker and saw Evelyn leaning against the other lockers, looking like she really needed to get something off her chest. She also looked a bit sick. "Whoa, what party did you go to last night?" Josh started walking down the hallway to his first class.

"I don't want to talk about that." Evelyn said as she walked with him.

"Wow! You actually want to talk with me! And Love's not around? Unbelievable!" Josh said with sarcasm.

"Josh, I'm trying to be serious right now."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry." Josh said as he tried putting away his playfulness. "Why are you talking to me? Isn't it a rule or something that if your friends with Meredith you can't be friends with Josh Wilkinson?"

Evelyn didn't respond to his comment. She always had a rude comeback for him. Josh stopped. "Evelyn, are you okay?" he asked with genuine concern.

Evelyn's hand went up to her chest and she began rubbing at it. "Yeah, Josh. I'm fine. But do you think that we could talk later?"

"Sure. When would a good time be?"

"After school? At the Talon?"

"Okay. I'll call my mom during lunch. But Evelyn," Josh looked straight into her brown eyes. "Are you sure your okay?"

Evelyn gave him a weak smile. "I'm sure."

* * *

Love sat down in her class room with a huge smile on her face. Ella came and sat next to her. Their English teacher still wasn't there, so everyone was talking.

"All right, Love. What's going on?" Ella asked.

Love looked at her confused. "Nothings going on."

"Come on, Love. I see that smile on your face. Did something happen?"

Love grinned sheepishly. "Okay, so maybe something really huge happened, but I was going to tell you and Josh at lunch so that I didn't have to repeat myself."

"Well…go on…" Ella encouraged.

Love smiled, showing off her perfectly white teeth. "Our dad came back home!" Love gushed.

"Oh my gosh! That's amazing!" Ella said as she gave her friend a hug. "When did his tour end?"

Because they couldn't tell every one that Clark had actually gone to train in an ice fortress in the north, they just said that he went to work with the Peace Corps for a while. "I don't know. He just flew in last night."

"How did Evelyn take it?" Ella knew that Evelyn had struggled with Clark leaving.

"I don't really know. Last night she came home drunk and kind of made a scene. And then this morning she yelled at him and walked out of the house.

Ella grimaced. She knew that Evelyn had a hard time accepting Clark leaving, but that didn't excuse her behavior. "I swear, sometimes Evelyn can be so rude."

Love nodded her head. "I think she's just hurting a lot right now. Hopefully she'll get better though."

"Good morning class, sorry I'm late." their teacher walked into the class and she pulled out some worksheets.

Love scribbled something down and passed it to Ella. 'We'll finish talking later.'

Ella nodded her head and they began to pay attention to what the teacher was lecturing.

* * *

Lois walked off the elevator and into the bull pen. Reporters were scurrying around everywhere, trying to find the next big lead. This was Lois' second home. She felt at ease here. This was her ideal environment.

"Lois, chief wants to see you in his office." Jimmy said as he walked out to meet her.

"Well, he's going to have to wait for a bit." Lois said. "How's Chloe?"

"She's doing fine. She wanted me to invite you over for dinner tomorrow night." Jimmy said as they both started walking to Lois' desk.

Lois really didn't hear what Jimmy had said. She only saw the vase of daises and daffodils. They were beautifully arranged. Lois picked up her pace, leaving Jimmy behind. She bent down and smelled the flowers. Clark had to be the sweetest man alive. She grabbed the card that was embedded in the flowers. She opened it. 'Lois Lane, I have never ever loved a woman like you before. I just wanted to let you know that. I would like to take you out for dinner some time. Richard.'

Lois quickly looked around the bull pen. She saw Richard look up at her. He smiled and winked at her before he returned to his own business. Lois crumpled the card in her hands and threw it into the trash bin. She couldn't believe the nerve of him! Why couldn't he see that first, she was married, and secondly that she didn't even like him!

"Who gave you the flowers?" Jimmy asked.

"No one." Lois replied a little coldly.

"Okay…well, don't forget about tomorrow." Jimmy said as he started backing away slowly.

"What's tomorrow?"

"Lois! You just agreed to coming over for dinner!" Jimmy was exasperated with her.

"Oh right. I'll call you before we leave or if we end up canceling."

"Great. Oh and remember chief still wants to see you." Jimmy turned around and went back to his desk.

Lois took one last smell from the flowers before walking to Perry's office. The flowers may have been from Richard, but they were still her favorite flowers and she was going to enjoy them for as long as they lived. "What's up chief?" Lois asked after she closed the door.

"Sit down Lois." Perry told her.

"Why? Isn't this going to be quick?"

"Just do it Lane."

Lois huffed out as she took a seat. "What is it?"

"How are you Lois?"

"I am perfectly fine." Lois answered him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"How are things at home?"

"Great." Lois smiled as she remembered what she and Clark had did last night. Memories…

"Okay good. You're meeting your new partner tomorrow."

Lois snapped out of her reverie. "What?!"

"You heard me Lois. I'm giving you a partner."

"But why? I work just fine alone!"

"Lois, you've gotten into so many different situations this past year. I do not want your kids to be alone." "But I always get out of them just fine!" it was true. Plus she had the extra bonus as Clark as her husband.

"All right Lois. I'm giving you one chance. If you can avoid getting into any kind of trouble today, then you're off the hook. I'll partner up the new kid with someone else. But if I see even one little paper cut on you, it's over."

"Deal." Lois got up and was about to leave, but she had one last question to ask. "Who's the new kid?"

"Someone I've been trying to get to join the team for a while now." Perry said with a knowing smile.

"Does this someone have a name?"

"You'll find it out tomorrow. Now get out of my office!"

Lois rolled her eyes as she walked out and back to her desk. She sat down and began looking through some of her files. She looked back up at the flowers and smiled fondly. As long as she imagined that it was Clark that sent her those, she was perfectly fine.

* * *

Evelyn walked out of the school feeling very lonely. All day she hadn't seen Josh, Ella, Love, or even Meredith. She really just wanted to be around with someone, just for their presence. Evelyn continued walking until she arrived at her picnic table. Well, really it was Evelyn's, Love's, Ella's, and Josh's picnic table. That's where they would all gather, even if Evelyn ignored them completely. Secretly, she enjoyed it. She sat down and pulled out her iPod.

Evelyn looked around in her bag for some kind of pain-killers. All day, her chest had been hurting and she couldn't take it anymore. She didn't find anything. She let out a frustrated sigh as she forced herself not to throw her bag.

"Hello Evelyn." Ella said as she sat down from across from her. Love joined them and sat down next to Ella.

"Hey." Evelyn replied sullenly.

Ella looked at Love. "Amazing! She's decided to speak with us today."

Evelyn didn't reply. She continued listening to her music.

Josh came by and sat by Evelyn. "Hey, guys."

"Hey Josh." they all said their greetings to him.

Josh turned to Evelyn. "How are you?" he grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

Evelyn looked up at him then back to Ella and Love. It looked like they were wanting to know what was going on between them. "I'm good."

"Evelyn! What are you doing tonight?" Meredith yelled from across the school yard. She started walking towards them, once again, wearing one of her infamous outfits.

Evelyn forced herself to brighten up. "I'm going out later."

"Cancel all of your plans. There's going to be another party tonight and we are on the VIP list."

Evelyn's eyes didn't light up like they usually did when Meredith invited her to a party. "Sorry Meredith. Not tonight."

Everyone, except for Josh, turned and looked at her. Never had Evelyn refused a party invitation, even if she was grounded.

"What? Are you ditching me for these losers?" Meredith asked

"No, Meredith. I'm just feeling a little sick after last night-"

"Oh and you're going to use a little hang over as your excuse?!"

"Meredith, it's not like that!"

"Whatever. I'm leaving." Meredith walked off without saying another word to Evelyn. But Meredith did notice Evelyn and Josh holding hands. If anyone had refused to go to a party with Meredith, she would be sure that they would be somewhat scathed by the end of the month. That little gesture was her smoking gun.

* * *

a/n: okay so i have this story set up the way i wanted it now. i have already decided on the villian. thank you all for the suggestions, but skittles mad...i laughed so hard when i read what you suggested! oh my goodness! i understand why you felt like that. don't worry. i have a _lot_ in store for evelyn and meredith. even for love. but anyways...i know clark wasn't really even in this chapter, but don't worry, there will definitely be a lot of clois goodness in the next chapter! i appreciate reviews after you read!


	3. Rescue

Rescue

Mrs. Wilkinson drove up and honked her horn. Josh and Love got up while Evelyn stayed seated. "Come on, Evelyn. We've got to go home this time."

"Just say I went out." Evelyn said, trying her best to sound annoyed with Love.

"Evelyn, I'm pretty sure Mom or Dad wouldn't like that idea."

"Love, do you honestly think that I care. Besides, I really need to do this. Please?"

Love hadn't seen that look in Evelyn's eyes in a long time. She looked like that scared little girl again. "Okay." Love ran to the car and got in while Josh was explaining to his mom what they were going to do.

It was just Evelyn and Ella at the table, waiting for Josh.

Ella really wanted to talk with Evelyn, find out how she was doing, but it was hard for her to say something. She didn't understand why. Evelyn had been her first best friend. That was how she met Love. But Evelyn had decided that she was too cool for them. But if Evelyn still thought that, why had she rejected Meredith's invitation. She knew that it had to deal with more than Clark coming back. "Evelyn, are you okay?"

Evelyn looked up and then looked back down at her iPod. "Why is everyone asking me that question?"

"Because you don't look good. You look really upset and you also look pretty sick."

Evelyn pulled out her headphones. "I'm fine Ella. Don't worry about me."

Josh walked back to the table. "Okay, I told my mom where we were going. Are you ready?" he asked Evelyn.

Evelyn nodded. She grabbed her bag and stood up.

"We'll see you later, Ella!" Josh said as he began walking backwards.

"Bye, Ella." Evelyn said quietly.

Ella waved good bye. She really wanted to be there for Evelyn, but it had been such a long time since she had to be there. It was almost as if Ella had forgotten how.

* * *

Clark heard the back door open. Caleb was chattering away and Love would act as if she wasn't ignoring him. "Hey." Clark said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Daddy!" Caleb threw himself into Clark's arms. Clark caught him with ease.

"Hey, Dad." Love said as she grabbed some things out of the refrigerator for a snack.

"Hello, Lovely." Clark said as he placed a small kiss on the top of her head. "How was school today?" he asked both of them as he proceeded to make Caleb a snack.

"It was fun!" Caleb exclaimed. "We got to color today and then we played with play-dough, then we learned how to write our names!"

"Wow, sounds like you had a lot of fun." Caleb was at that stage where learning could still be considered as fun.

Caleb had more to say. "And during lunch, I put worms in Penelope's sandwich and she ate it!"

Love started laughing, while Clark was trying to stay serious. "Caleb, why did you do that?" "Because Penelope is a really mean girl. Besides, that's what Mommy said that she did to this one boy in her school. She said that he was worse than Penelope."

"That's what she said?" Clark couldn't believe that Lois would teach their kids something like that.

Love nodded. "Yeah, it was a pretty funny story. Even Evelyn cracked a smile."

"Where is Evelyn?" Clark asked, barely noticing that Evelyn hadn't come in.

"She went out."

"But she's grounded."

"She does that a lot. She says that she doesn't care about what kind of punishments she's given."

Clark had no idea how much had changed. But he was starting to see it all. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know, but she's with Josh, so that should make you feel somewhat better."

Clark grimaced. "What time does your mom get home?" Clark set down Caleb and gave him an apple.

"She's supposed to come home around four, but most of the time she gets back around seven or eight."

Clark frowned. Lois left the kids alone for that long? He understood that she must've had a hard time trying to juggle three kids and a full time job, but with him back, he was going to make sure that some of these things changed. He didn't want the kids to grow up like latch-key kids.

* * *

Josh opened the door for Evelyn and they walked inside. They ordered their coffees and took a seat. "All right, can you explain what's going on now?"

Evelyn started fiddling with a napkin. "I know I haven't been the greatest person to you, or to Ella and Love

Josh smirked. "Tell me something I don't know."

Evelyn sighed as she looked around the place. "I used to live here for a while." Evelyn said in a far-away voice.

Josh got interested. He hadn't known anybody that had ever lived in the Talon. He thought that it was cool, being able to live above a coffee house. "Really? I thought that you always lived at the farm?"

"My dad got a divorce and I had to live with my…his wife for a while. She had legal custody." it felt so weird to talk about Clark and Lana. She hadn't really told anybody anything about it or how she felt. But here she was telling Josh.

"What happened?"

Evelyn's eyes went down. "A lot of stuff." she hated remembering that night. It had to have been the worse day of her life. She didn't think that anything could top it.

Josh could tell that this was a very sore subject for Evelyn, so he decided to change it. "Have you heard anything from your dad?" Love still hadn't told Josh and Evelyn certainly didn't either.

"He came back last night."

"That's great news!" Josh exclaimed with a smile on his face. He vaguely remembered Clark from Love's birthday, but he remembered that Evelyn, Love, and Caleb really loved him. But he also remembered that he could be very intimidating. Evelyn didn't look very excited about it. "That is great news, right?"

"I don't know. I mean…he's been gone for so long. Five years, and he wouldn't even visit for the past three years. And then he comes back and expects a warm and happy welcome?"

"You had to have been at least sort of happy that he was back."

Evelyn scoffed. "Are you kidding! I wanted to cry because I was so happy, but I couldn't. I just got mad at him for leaving in the first place."

"But he had a good reason."

"Then if he had a good reason, why do I still feel as if he abandoned me?"

"Evelyn, he did not abandon you." Josh placed his hand on Evelyn's, trying to show his support.

"You don't even know the whole story."

"Then tell me."

A waitress came and placed their orders in front of them. Evelyn took her drink and sipped it, trying to stall for time.

Josh looked at her closely. "What are you so afraid of?"

Evelyn set her drink down. "I'm scared of being left alone." Evelyn said with tears in her eyes.

"Evelyn, you are never going to be alone. No matter where you are, your family is going to be right there next to you."

Evelyn scoffed as she thought of her family. Lois, who was a reporter, would constantly get into trouble. Love and Caleb, two super-powered kids, constantly making her feel left out whenever they would perform one of their amazing feats. And then there was Clark. Sure he was still a great dad and all, but his destiny was so much greater. Would he even have time for his family? For her? "You don't know my family."

"Then explain them to. I want to know."

Evelyn groaned as she felt that same pain come into her chest. It was suddenly becoming very difficult to breathe. She could hear herself struggling for breath.

"Evelyn? Evelyn, what's wrong?" Josh asked. It looked like he was ready to pull out his phone and dial 911.

Evelyn fought the dizziness that she felt. "I'm fine Josh, just got a little dizzy."

"That didn't look like you were only a little dizzy." Josh said. He was concerned about Evelyn. Something wasn't right about what had just happened.

"Josh, I said that I was fine." Evelyn was still trying to catch her breath.

"Evelyn, just a little visit. It's not going to kill you."

"Josh, what did I say?"

"Fine, but because you won't go, then you're going to have to explain your family to me."

Evelyn eyed him. "Where do I begin?" she said with a small smile.

* * *

Lois sat at her computer just staring at her screen. Nothing news worthy had happened at all today. She had to turn something in today. A chair rolled up to her and she groaned as she realized who was sitting in the chair. "So did you like the flowers?"

"Richard, could you please go away. I really don't want to deal with you." Lois said, not even looking up at him.

"Ouch. What's got you in a bad mood?"

"You."

"Oh come on, Lois. Just one little date."

"Have you even taken notice of the ring on my left hand?" Lois was getting really annoyed.

"Yes, I have. But I've also noticed that your husband left you and never came back. Now you're left alone with three kids to raise all by yourself. You know, I would make a wonderful father."

"Richard, back off before I find a staple gun that has your name written all over it." Lois said as she grabbed her purse and walked towards the elevator.

Richard sighed as Lois walked away from him again. He saw that the elevator was going up to the roof. If he ran really quick, he might be able to catch up with her.

Richard got up and started running after her, but he felt someone grab him. Richard turned around. "Jimmy? What's up?" Richard really didn't want to deal with him right now.

"Look, you need to leave Lois alone, all right. She's married."

"But her husband left her." Richard countered.

"But he's coming back and I don't think that he would like it that you were after his wife."

Richard scoffed. "Whoever that man is, he is never going to come back." he shrugged Jimmy off and ran after Lois.

Richard opened the door that led to the roof. He saw Lois standing on the edge digging through her purse. She pulled out some nicorete gum and a cigarette pack. She seemed to be considering her choices very carefully.

Richard sauntered up to her. "I'd go with the cigarette. Helps me calm down better."

Lois spun around. "Now you're stalking me?"

"I just wanted to talk."

Lois didn't believe him for a second. "I swear, if you even get within ten feet of me, I'll have you down on the floor before you even now what happened." Lois crossed her arms and waited for Richard to talk, even though her mind was yelling at her to get out of there.

"I wanted to apologize for trying to force myself on you. I understand that you're going through a hard time with this separation, but you've got to move on Lois. It'll be hard at first, but you'll have your friends to help you get through it." Richard started coming closer.

Lois noticed him coming closer and her body tensed up. "Me and my husband did not separate."

"Then why isn't he here with you?"

"He is." Lois said.

Richard took a small step back. "What?"

"He came back home yesterday. I love him Richard, not you."

Richard tried to keep down his anger, but failed. "And you're just going to take him back? Lois, I saw how much it hurt you when he left you. He may have been a good man, but I never met him. And if he could have the nerve to leave you, then he didn't even deserve you." Richard started coming closer again.

Lois backed up and felt the ledge brushing against her legs. She looked down. It was a long fall, and Richard didn't seem to notice how close they were to the ledge. "Richard, you need to-"

"No, Lois! I am not going to let you walk away from me!" Richard grabbed her shoulders and held the tightly.

"Richard! Let go of me!" Lois yelled.

"No! Not until you realize that you are making the biggest mistake of your life!" Richard looked down and finally took notice of how close they were to falling. His heart jumped at how high they were. He lost his balance and fell over the edge, his hands barely holding onto the ledge. "Lois! Help me!"

"Richard!" Lois leaned over and stretched her hand out as far as she could. "Grab my hand!"

Richard didn't want to let go of the ledge. He finally let one of his hands go and quickly grabbed onto Lois' hand.

Lois grunted as she began struggling to pull him up. "Okay, Richard, you're almost up." she continued pulling him up, but she lost her footing. She could feel herself falling. She could hear herself screaming. Something grabbed her hand and stopped herself from falling. She opened her eyes and saw that it was Richard.

"Hang on Lois!" he said to her.

Lois looked up. Richard was holding onto her with only one hand. His other hand was gripped tightly to the ledge. It looked like his fingers were starting to slip.

* * *

Love sat on the couch watching the news. Clark was outside in the barn fixing the tractor again and Caleb was with him supposedly helping. Evelyn still hadn't come back from the Talon. Love had convinced Clark to let her come back on her own. She was with Josh, they wouldn't be doing anything wrong.

Some woman was doing a report about a new sandwich shop that had opened right across from the Daily Planet. Love didn't understand what the big deal was about. She turned down the volume and pulled out her homework.

The back door opened and Clark and Caleb came in. Caleb was talking away about nonsense and Clark tried really hard to pay attention. "Hey, Love. What are you doing?" Clark asked as he cleaned off his greasy hands.

"Homework."

"Your mom's not back yet?"

Love shook her head. She could tell that Clark was starting to get a little worried. "Don't worry, Dad. Mom's fine."

Clark nodded, knowing she was probably right. "What about Evelyn?"

"Nope."

Clark frowned. He really wanted her to come back. He needed to talk with her.

Clark took a seat next to Love and Caleb climbed up in his lap. The three of them were watching the report on the new sandwich shop. It was really uninteresting, but the camera man did something odd. He moved the camera away from the lady doing the report and focused it on the top of the Daily Planet. You could hear several woman gasping. A man yelled for someone to call 911. The camera continued focusing. You could make out two figures hanging over the ledge.

"That's Mom!" Love exclaimed as she stood up.

Clark set Caleb down. "Love, watch your brother and do not go anywhere!" Clark ordered as he took off in a blur.

Caleb looked at the door where Clark had left. He had never seen Clark speed away like that. He looked to Love. "Did you see what Daddy did!?"

* * *

Lois held on tightly to Richard's hand. She was so scared right now. What in the world was she doing hanging over the ledge? All she could think about was Caleb, Evelyn, Love, and Clark. She didn't want to die. Not yet.

"Lois, I'm so sorry!" Richard yelled from above her.

"Shut up, Richard!"

"I didn't want things to end up this way."

"Richard, right now isn't the best time!" Lois yelled at him. Lois continued watching his hand that was holding them both to the ledge. His fingers were slipping. "Richard, I swear, you had better hand onto that ledge!"

"I…can't!" Richard's fingers let go of the ledge and they both began falling fast. In a few seconds, they would only be human pancakes on the cement sidewalk. Lois closed her eyes as she waited for her death to come. The wind around her kept billowing, but she never felt impact. Instead, she felt a strong arm wrapped around her. It felt like they were going up. Lois was so scared to open her eyes, but she did. Her eyes saw a huge red S inside of a yellow shield. Her eyes traveled upwards and she saw the most remarkable sight. It was a man, and he was flying. She looked down and saw that he held onto Richard with his other free arm.

"How…what…" Lois couldn't make a coherent sentence.

He looked down at her. He smiled.

Lois' eyes popped out of her head. It was Clark! He was flying?! When did he learn to fly?! Why didn't he ever tell her about that ability!?

His feet that were wearing red boots touched down on the Daily Planet roof. He set both Richard and Lois down gently. "I hope you're both all right." Clark said in a deep voice that he hardly used.

"Yeah…" Richard was in a daze.

Lois still didn't say anything.

Clark looked at her with a worried expression. "Are you all right ma'am?"

Lois blinked a few times before she pulled herself together. "Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" she needed to act like she didn't know who he was. But she still wanted to act tough nonetheless.

Clark smiled. "Good." With a small wave, he turned around and flew back up into the night sky.

Lois watched his retreating form. Only one thought was running in her mind. 'Bright red underwear?'

* * *

Evelyn walked in the house through the front door. Mrs. Wilkinson had dropped her off after Josh called her to pick them up. She and Josh had talked a lot. She explained all that she could about her dysfunctional family. Her chest had continued hurting, but she ignored the pain.

Evelyn walked into the living room and saw Love and Caleb glued to the TV. "What's going on?"

Caleb turned around and looked at her with a smile. "Did you know Daddy can fly?!"

Evelyn looked at the TV screen and sure enough, there was Clark dressed in a blue suit with a cape and a red S on his chest. He was flying. Evelyn slowly eased herself in a chair. The pain in her chest was intensifying. "Oh my goodness." she mumbled. No words could express how she felt.

* * *

a/n: okay, i know, there wasn't really any clois goodness in this. i feel so sad! i couldn't really fit it in, though. maybe next chapter? update before the end of this week...probably. reviews are awesome.


	4. Negotiation

Negotiation

The door opened and Lois came in. She looked completely our of it. She had a far-away stare and her hair was disheveled. She didn't even have her briefcase.

Evelyn, Love and Caleb all gathered around her, careful not to startle her. "Mommy, are you okay?" Caleb asked.

Lois looked down at them. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." she picked Caleb up and walked into the living room. She was still in a daze.

"Do you think she's all right?" Evelyn asked Love.

"I don't know. I've never seen her like this." Love whispered back.

They both walked into the living room and watched Lois watch the news about this new flying man that was saving people all around the world.

"Mommy, when did Daddy learn how to fly?" Caleb broke the silence.

Lois looked down at him. "I don't know sweetie." she rubbed his back and continued watching the news.

Evelyn looked at Love and Caleb. If Clark could fly, then could they fly one day too? As much as she tried, Evelyn couldn't picture it.

The door opened again and they all turned around to see who it was. It was Clark.

Lois got up and ran to him. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fervently. Clark looked at bit surprised at first, but dove right in.

Caleb expressed his disgust loudly while Evelyn and Love just made faces and turned away.

"That was for rescuing me earlier." Lois said when she finally broke away.

"Mmm, I can't wait to see what I get for bringing dinner." Clark rested his hands against her hips.

"You brought dinner?"

"Straight from Italy." he said as he held up a plastic bag full of food.

Lois' smile increased and she grabbed Clark by his cheeks and brought him in for another kiss. This one was a bit more sloppy though, but it still left Clark wanting more. Her kisses always did that to him.

"I really like that." Clark whispered in her ear.

"Really?" Lois took a step back and crossed her arms. She watched him carefully.

Clark looked at her, unsure what her next move would be. He didn't know if he was going to like it.

Lois stepped closer to him again and slapped him. Clark reacted quickly and moved his face out of the way. He didn't want her to hurt her hand. "Lois! What was that for?"

"That was for not telling me that you could fly, Smallville!" Lois said, pointing a finger at him.

"I kind of barely learned it."

"Clark!"

"What? I didn't know how to do it then. I knew that I could, I just didn't know how to."

Lois rolled her eyes. She took the bag from Clark. "Well, thank you for brining dinner." she pulled out the to-go-boxes and set them on the table. "Kids, time to eat!"

Love and Caleb sped into the kitchen trying to see who could sit down first. Napkins everywhere went flying.

"Guys! What have I told you about super-speeding in the house?" Lois chastised as she tried to get some of the napkins that had flew away. She took a seat at the table along with the two kids.

Love and Caleb looked up. "It was kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing." Love answered with a cheeky grin.

Evelyn starting walking into the dining room, not really paying any attention to Clark.

Clark stopped her though. He could see that something was bothering her. "Evelyn, are you okay?"

Evelyn looked up at him and immediately put on her mask. "Yes, everything's fine."

"You know that you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know."

Clark looked at her closer. It looked like she had been crying. Her eyes were a little puffy and her face was freckled with red spots. Clark stooped down slightly. "Were you crying?" he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Evelyn roughly brushed it away. "No, all right. Just leave me alone."

"Evelyn, what's going on?"

Evelyn spun around. "You want to know what's going on? Your face was plastered all over that TV! Anyone who knew you before and all about your abilities can easily see that it's you! You didn't even think about that did you?!"

"Evelyn, calm down." Lois told her soothingly as she stood up.

"Why should I?! You know it's true!"

Love grabbed Caleb. "Come on, guy. Let's go up to the loft."

"Why are they yelling?"

"There just talking really loud." Love stopped at the door. She looked at the arguing trio and sighed. Why did things have to be so difficult?

None of them noticed Love or Caleb walking out.

"Clark, she kind of does have a point."

Clark looked at Lois, not believing she wasn't siding with him.

"Thank you for finally agreeing with me for once in your life!" Evelyn said as she threw her arms up in the air.

"Evelyn, please stop yelling." Clark told her.

Evelyn ignored what he had said. "What about Lex? Did you think about him? And what about Lana?! They know your secret and I bet that they won't hesitate to tell anyone!"

"Evelyn, Lex is in Belle Reeve." Lois told her. "Remember, they transferred him there. Even if he says something, no one will believe him."

"Lex is in Belle Reeve?" Clark asked.

"Yeah. Some new lawyer came in and said that Lex was temporarily insane at the time. They even had some proof to back it up."

Clark shook his head, knowing that once again Lex had managed to slip through the cracks.

"So then what are you going to do about Lana?" Evelyn still hadn't received her answer.

Clark sighed. He honestly didn't think about it. He saw Lois dangling over the Daily Planet roof and he had to save her. "She isn't going to say anything." Clark said, confident of what he was saying.

"How do you know?! She was a liar and she will do anything to get you out of the way! You should remember that." Evelyn finished in a small voice as images of Clark dying came back to her mind. She quickly pushed them away, not wanting to deal with that at the moment.

"I know Evelyn. Trust me." Clark said.

Evelyn looked at Clark and then to Lois. Lois trusted Clark so much. Evelyn didn't understand how much Lois loved Clark. He left for six years and stopped visiting. How could she still love him so much? She wished that she loved Clark again, like she was supposed to. Like he was her daddy and not some rude person. "I'm going to my room." Evelyn walked up the stairs and slammed the door to her room.

Clark looked at the empty table with the food laid out. "When did she grow up? When did Love grow up? When did little Caleb grow up?"

"They grew up with time, Smallville."

"And I missed it all, didn't I?"

Lois looked at Clark. He looked so sad that he had to miss everything. If she said that he didn't miss everything, she'd be lying. "There's still some things that you can see."

Clark's face changed to determination. "I'm going to make it up to them."

* * *

Chloe stood in the laundry room folding towels and underwear. Jimmy had called a few minutes ago saying that he was going to come home late. Chloe was okay with that. She had four kids to keep her company. She smiled as she pictured them all, but the smile faded when she remembered what Charles and Christopher had done at school today. They could be such hooligans.

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! Come look!" Chloe heard Charles yelling from the living room.

"Hang on, I'm coming." Chloe said loud enough to be heard. She continued folding the towels.

"Mommy, hurry! It's going to go away!" Christopher yelled.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Mom, this is serious stuff, you should really get in here!" Joanne yelled.

Chloe huffed as she threw down the towel that she had been folding. "What is it?" she asked, annoyed with their persistence. She wished she could've taken her words back when she saw it. It was Clark, dressed up in a ridiculously tight blue suit and a cape billowing behind him as he flew. Chloe's hand slowly went to her mouth in shock. "He did not just do that!" Chloe yelled at the TV.

All of her children looked up at her. "Who are you talking about, Mom?" Julie asked.

Chloe realized that she spoke her mind out loud. "Um…that man on the TV…I can't believe he's flying…" her excuse came out a bit awkward, making Julie and Joanne suspicious. "Boys, get in bed."

"Aw man! Do we have to?" Christopher complained.

"Yes, now get moving." Chloe said as she ushered them out of the living room.

"Is Daddy going to tuck us in?" Charles asked.

"Daddy's going to come home late so you'll have to deal with me. I'll be up in a minute." Chloe said, hoping that they heard her through their closed bedroom door. Chloe turned to Julie and Joanne. "You two girls, you need to get to bed."

"But why can't we stay up a little longer? It's only ten thirty." Julie pleaded.

"You can stay up for as long as you want, but you need to get in your room. The both of you."

"Yes, ma'am." Joanne and Julie both got up and went into the room that they shared. Chloe didn't doubt for a second that they were going to stay up for half the night.

Chloe grabbed the phone that hung on the wall and dialed a number. She waited for a few rings.

"Hello, Kent Household." came the familiar voice.

"You are so unbelievable! You came back and you didn't even let me know!"

Clark winced on the other line as Chloe yelled off his ear. "Sorry, Chloe. I called several times, but no one answered. And I came over once, but no one was home either."

"You could've left a note or something!"

"I didn't know if should've or not."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Does anyone else know?"

"I saw my mom first, I called most everyone on the team. The ones that I didn't get to call must've already found out. And then I came back home."

"So I was the last one to find out?"

"No…not really. Jimmy still doesn't know."

Chloe scoffed. "And that's supposed to make me feel better? No one in the Olsen family was told?"

"Sorry?"

Chloe scoffed again.

"I'll make it up to you. Jimmy invited us over for dinner tomorrow. I'll see you then."

"All right then. I'm still upset with you."

Clark chuckled. "Of course you are."

They said their good byes and hung up. Chloe smiled. She was glad that Clark was back home. She just didn't know how everyone else had responded.

* * *

Lois walked into the top floor of the Daily Planet. It was the following morning and she knew that she was going to get chewed out by Perry. "Hey Jimmy. Anything new?" she asked as she sauntered up to his desk. She picked up some photos on his desk and looked at them with disinterest.

"Anything new?" Jimmy looked at her as if she was crazy. "You're asking me if there's anything new?! You were the one that was saved by that man! It's been playing over and over on the news!"

Lois smiled. "I know, it gets kind of tiring. Have you got any pictures of him?"

"Nope, he wouldn't stay in one place long enough for me to snatch one." Jimmy said, the disappointment was evident in his voice. "But Perry wanted to see you."

Lois groaned. She was going to get it. "I'll see you later Jimmy."

"Don't forget dinner tonight!"

"Got it!" Lois said as she opened the door to Perry's office. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah, Lois, meet your new partner. Clark Kent."

Lois realized Clark standing in the corner. But he was wearing glasses and an over-sized suit jacket. He was also hunching down a bit, as if trying to make himself seem unconfident. Once again, he made his wardrobe clash. At lest he didn't combine it with some of his signature plaid.

"Hey, Lois." Clark said with a smile.

"Smallville? What are you doing here?"

"I told you that I was going to work here. I didn't know that Mr. White wanted to team us up."

Lois turned around to Perry. "You did this on purpose! I don't want a partner! Even if it is my husband!"

"I know, but after that stunt that you pulled last night, I decided the best partner to give was going to have to be your husband."

"But-"

"Nope! It's final. You and Kent are going to be partners."

Lois looked at Clark and his wonderful smile. "Okay." she said a bit happily. Maybe this wasn't going to be such a bad thing. Being by Clark for the entire day. Oh, she just couldn't wait! But what was she going to do about Richard? He was going to find out that he was her husband. What would happen then?

"Get to the conference room. I'm having an emergency meeting." Perry said as he got up from his desk. He walked to the door and Lois and Clark followed him out.

They filed into the conference room along with all the other reporters. They were all talking with excitement about the newest super hero. Lois took a seat next to Clark. "Seems like you cause a lot of news for us." she whispered as she pulled out a notepad and pen.

"I do try and get noticed by one special reporter." Clark replied as he gave her hand a squeeze.

Lois smiled at him, but her eyes looked across the room. Richard was there and watching her, looking for an explanation. She quickly removed her eyes from him and looked to Perry.

"All right, people, I'm sure that many of you know that two of our reporters were rescued last night by a man in a blue suit, red cape, and a huge 's' on his chest."

A small applause filled the room, and an occasional holler could be heard. "All right, everybody settle down. I want the scoop on this guy. Where did he come from? Can he do something other than fly? What does he call himself?"

"I think that he calls himself 'Superman.'" Lois spoke up.

Clark looked at her with an incredulous look.

"Superman…I like that. Lane, Kent, I want you two to get the first interview."

Perry sat down and pulled out a folder. He started looking through the pages. He looked up and saw all the reporters looking at him. "What are you people still doing here?! Move! News doesn't wait!"

Everyone scurried out of the office and back to their desks. Lois sat down at her desk and Clark sat down at his, right across from Lois. "Okay, Clark. So when can we do that interview."

"I don't know if I want to do it now…" Clark said as he swiveled his chair.

"What? And why not?"

Clark leaned in. "Superman?" he pushed his glasses up.

"Okay, so I just kind of blurted it out without thinking. I'm sorry. But what else were you going to call yourself?"

"I don't know…"

"So I solved your problem."

"Fine, but I still don't like it."

"Why not? It's something I came up with." Lois pouted.

Clark smiled. "That's my point exactly. Your names have a tendency to stick."

"Clark? Is that really you?"

Clark turned around and saw Jimmy looking at him in disbelief. He stood up. "Hey Jimmy."

"Oh man! It's been forever!" Jimmy said as he gave Clark a manly hug.

Clark smiled. "Yeah, it's good to be home." Clark glanced at Lois.

"How long have you been back?"

"Just for a few days. I'm still trying to get back into the normal routine of things." Clark said.

Jimmy chuckled, still not able to believe Clark was finally back. "Oh man, Chloe's going to be so psyched when she sees you!" Jimmy said as he gave his shoulder a pat. "Lois told you about dinner right?"

"Jimmy! I didn't forget!" Lois said loudly from her desk.

"Yeah, don't worry Jimmy. Lois really did tell me."

"All right. I gotta take some pictures at some rally. It was great seeing you C.K.." Jimmy said.

"You too, Jimmy." Clark took his seat again.

"Anyways…when are you going to do the interview?"

"I'll do it, Lois. Don't worry."

"If you say so…"

* * *

Evelyn looked around her. It was eight thirty and she had just skipped her classes. It was weird, she really didn't feel remorseful, at least not a lot. After Mrs. Wilkinson had dropped them off, Evelyn slowly removed herself away from Love, Josh, and Ella. It wasn't as hard as she thought. But now she had to wait for the bus and it was getting harder to stay still with each passing minute.

She looked at her watch. It was eight thirty-five now. The bus still wasn't here. Evelyn went over in her mind what she was going to do. She had it all planned out, she just hoped that she wouldn't chicken out.

In the distance, Evelyn could see the bus finally coming. She grabbed her bag and stepped onto the bus when it stopped for her.

"Evelyn Kent. Aren't you supposed to be in school?" said the bus driver, Billy. She had met Billy when she tried running away once. Billy drove around, but he didn't take her anywhere. They talked for a while and became really good friends after that.

"Yes Billy, but I really need to see someone." Evelyn looked around the bus. It was empty. "Do you think that you could take me to a specific place?"

Billy sighed. "Evelyn, you know this isn't a taxi service."

"I know, but please Billy. I really have to do this."

Billy took one look at her round brown eyes. "All right, sit down."

Evelyn smiled brightly. "Thanks Billy!"

"Yeah, yeah." Billy still couldn't believe that he agreed to it. "So where am I taking you?" he asked as he started to drive away.

"Take me to the State Penitentiary."

Billy looked at Evelyn from the rearview mirror. "Are you sure you want to go there?"

Evelyn sighed. Her chest was starting to hurt again. But she wasn't going to use that as an excuse. "Yes. I'm positive.

* * *

Clark pushed back his chair. "I'm going to go get some lunch. What do you want?"

"Um… I would like to try one of those sandwiches from that café across the street. You know which one, right?"

"Yeah." Clark grabbed his coat and pulled it on. "I'll be back." Clark said as he gave Lois a kiss.

"Don't be too long!" Lois called out after him, knowing very well he might take off as Superman and might be gone for hours. While she would be proud of him for saving innocent civilians, her stomach was growling like crazy.

Clark nodded his head and Lois went back to her computer. He stepped into an elevator and pushed the button for the ground floor.

"Wait! Hold the door!" yelled a man on the other side.

Clark put his hand between the closing doors and stopped it, allowing the man to step in.

"Thanks." he said as he pushed his floor level.

"No problem."

They started descending down in an uncomfortable silence. "So…I'm Richard White. I don't think that we've met." he said as he held out his hand.

Clark shook his hand. "It's nice to met you. I'm Clark Kent."

"Kent…" Richard rolled his name around on his tongue. "So you're Lois' husband."

"Yeah. I can't believe that I ended up with someone as special as her."

"She sure is something, I'll agree on that. I just can't believe that she'd go for someone like you. You really don't seem like Lois' type."

Clark didn't like the way he sounded when he said that.

"So…question of the hour," Richard said as he turned around and looked at Clark. "Why'd you leave her?"

Clark's glasses dropped down on his nose slightly. "I'm sorry, but that's kind of personal."

Richard nodded. "Just as I suspected. You left her for no good reason."

"No, I didn't. I would never leave Lois just because."

"But that's what you did when you left."

"I had personal matters to take care of."

"Oh and Lois just let you go?"

"We actually talked about it and she insisted that I go."

"So you're just going to do every little thing that she tells you to do? Let her run you over?"

"I'm sorry, but I won't let you talk about her that way."

"Oh come on! Admit it that you left her already and just get it out of the way! Do you know how long I've been waiting for someone to yell that in her face?" Richard stopped. He slipped up.

Clark glowered at him, wanting to kill him that second. He kept his cool, though. If not, it would've gotten messy. "Leave Lois alone."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. "Here's where I get off." Richard stated the obvious. He stepped off and mocked saluted Clark with a cheesy smile as the doors closed.

* * *

Evelyn stepped off the bus. "Are you sure you wanted to come here?" she heard Billy ask her.

"Yeah." Evelyn meant for her voice to come out confident, but she could hear the doubt in it."

"How long do you think you'll be?"

"I don't know. Ten, fifteen minutes?"

Billy looked at his watch. "I'll wait for twenty, after that I have to go."

"Thanks Billy!" Evelyn said with a smile.

Billy smiled back. "Please be careful kid." he closed the door and went into the parking lot.

Evelyn breathed in deeply, even though her breathing was very shaky and uneven. She put her foot in front of her, then the other foot, forcing herself to walk to the entrance. She made it inside and walked up to the front desk. "Hi, I wanted to see someone here."

The prison guard looked up. "Name of the person." he said in a monotone manner.

"Lana Lang."

He typed something on the computer. "Your name?"

"Evelyn Kent."

The man continued typing. "All right, just walk down that hall right there and turn on your first left. There's going to be another guard and he'll tell you what to do."

Evelyn nodded and said her thank you. She walked down the hallway and turned on her first left, just like he had told her.

There was a guard standing there. "Place any cell phones, cameras, or tape recorders in this tray."

Evelyn pulled out her phone and put it in the tray. The guard pulled out a metal detector and frisked her. "You've got ten minutes."

Evelyn nodded and she walked into the room. There were several tables each with two chairs facing each other. Evelyn took a seat at one of the tables and waited.

A new guard came in with Lana walking right in front of him. She was dressed in the standard orange jumpsuit and her writs were handcuffed. Her black hair was cut, but it was still long enough to be in a pony tail. She sat down at the table, not showing any emotions in her eyes, but she wouldn't tear her gaze from Evelyn. The guard chained the handcuffs to the table and left them alone.

"Well, well, well. Look who grew into the pretty Filipino. I had to admit, I didn't think that you would grow up pretty. You were cute when you were little, but cuteness is grown out."

Evelyn winced inwardly at being called a Filipino. Everyone already knew that she was adopted, but she hadn't told many where she was adopted from. Did she feel ashamed of where she came from? "You've gotten older too." Evelyn said with a snap. She was right. Prison hadn't been very kind to Lana. Her face already had wrinkles and she had gray hair. Not to mention several bruises and scars on her arms.

"I'm sure that there was some other reason that you came to visit me."

Evelyn looked around. She leaned in and whispered. "Did you see the news last night?"

"I sure did." Lana said with a smug smile. "And I know exactly who that flying man is."

Evelyn gulped. "Are you going to tell anyone?"

Lana raised her eyebrow. "I don't know. I tell someone, and they could finish what me and Lex wanted to do for so many years."

"Please, don't tell anyone."

"What would I get out of it?"

Evelyn didn't have anything to offer her. "What would you like?"

"To get out of this hole."

"I can't do that."

"Then I can't keep it a secret any longer."

"Why doesn't your boyfriend just hire some new attorney? That way you both can get out jail and run away to some South American country."

"It's much harder than that Eva."

"Don't call me that."

Lana grinned cheekily. "You always hated it when I called you that."

Evelyn fumed silently. "Look, I'll do whatever you want, just don't tell anyone."

Lana considered something carefully. "Lex's case is about to be re opened. Of course, they're going to call up witnesses. When it's your turn to go up there, I want you to lie. None of that stuff ever happened."

Evelyn backed away. "No, I can't do that."

"Then Clark's secret gets loose."

Evelyn considered her options. "If I do that, then you swear that you won't ever tell?"

"I swear."

Evelyn didn't know if she could trust Lana. She did try and kill them along with Lex. Evelyn's chest started hurting again. "I'll do it."

The buzzer sounded and two guards came in. One grabbed Lana to put her back in her cell and the other led Evelyn out of the room. Evelyn grabbed her cell phone and walked outside.

Billy was in the parking lot. It looked like he had fallen asleep. Evelyn shook her head as she walked over to the bus. She knocked on the door and Billy jumped. He saw that it was Evelyn and he opened the door. "How'd it go?"

"Fine." Evelyn said, her voice came out in a whisper.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Evelyn's voice sounded like she was in pain.

"You don't sound too good."

"Billy, I'm fine. I promise."

"As a matter of fact, you don't look good either. Are you sure you're not sick?"

"Yes Billy. Do you think that you could take me back to school?"

"All right, kid."

Evelyn sat back in the seat and she tried steadying her breathing. It was weird. She didn't feel like an emotional wreck, so why was it getting hard to breath? Evelyn just blamed it on the cold weather. Besides, that's why there was a dull ache in her arm, so that was why she was having trouble breathing...right?

* * *

a/n: so i am super pumped! tonight they are finally showing infamous! yay!! anyways, i made this chapter longer than usual because i am not going to be able to update for about a week and a half, two weeks tops. me and my family are going on another mission trip to chihuahua, mexico to help out some orphanages. keep us in your prayers! tell me what you thought about this latest installment and i'll be sure to update. laterz! ;D


	5. Memories

Memories

Evelyn quietly slipped into the school. Everyone was out of their classes and were heading to their last class of the day. Evelyn had missed the entire day.

"Evelyn, where have you been all day?" Ella came up to her as they started walking together.

Evelyn looked up at Ella. "I, uh, went out."

Ella's jaw dropped. "You skipped school?" she asked in a whisper.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Not the entire day. I'm still here aren't I?"

Ella nodded, not arguing with Evelyn's logic. "How are you doing?"

Evelyn sighed. "I'm getting there. It's kind of hard seeing him at home."

"You'll get used to it again eventually."

"I don't know if I can. He stopped visiting us, Ella."

"But you can't really blame him. I mean he was traveling all over the world with Green Peace. He probably got really busy."

Evelyn wished that someone else knew and understood what she was talking about. Sure she had talked with Josh, but she wasn't able to tell him everything. The Kent family secret had still been safe. "I guess…"

The bell rang and Ella ran ahead. "I'll catch up with you later!" she ducked into her class.

Evelyn inhaled deeply as she walked into her class. Meredith was there and she was giving Evelyn an ugly look. Evelyn avoided her stare and she sat in the front of the class instead of the back. Maybe it had been a bad idea to turn down Meredith's invitation. Heck, it had been a bad idea to become friends with Meredith in the first place.

* * *

Lois and Clark came in the house holding each others hands. It was four thirty so the kids should be home, but the house sounded empty.

"So how did you like your first day of work?" Lois asked Clark.

Clark wanted to ask her about Richard. The entire day, he had been on Clark's mind. But he didn't want to ruing anything right now. It could wait for a later time. "It was great. I met this wonderful woman there. She's stubborn, has a very loud mouth and has a horrible habit of getting herself in trouble. I think that she needs her own personal hero." Clark said with a smile as their bodies neared each other.

Lois put her hand on his chest. "Sounds like a great woman. Maybe she should be my role model." she leaned up and gave Clark a sweet kiss on his lips.

Clark groaned. It was so good to be back, to be able to have Lois there with him, seeing his family every day. He couldn't ask for anything more.

Lois pulled away, much too soon for Clark's taste. She walked around him as if nothing had happened and began making snacks for the kids.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Clark asked softly as he hugged Lois from behind. He began swaying her to a tune that only he heard in his head.

Lois giggled. "Clark, we still have three kids to take care of. We can finish this later."

"I don't see them around anywhere. How about we finish this right now?" Clark started placing kisses on her neck.

"Smallville, cut it out." Lois pleaded. Clark really knew how to get to her and it was working.

"Mom! Caleb won't leave me alone!" Love yelled from upstairs.

"No! Mommy, it's Love! She won't leave me alone!" Caleb yelled back.

Clark groaned. Did they really have to get into an argument right now? Clark rubbed Lois' shoulders. "I'll take care of this."

Lois turned around and smiled. "Thanks, Smallville."

Clark walked up the stairs. He opened the door to the room Love and Evelyn shared. Love was standing in the middle of the room and she was holding Caleb upside down. Caleb's face was turning red, but he had a huge grin on his face. He was actually enjoying it. Love on the other hand looked pretty upset. "Love, what are you doing?!" Clark asked as he walked towards them. He grabbed Caleb from her arms and put him right side up.

"He wouldn't leave me alone!" Love said.

"What was he doing?"

"I was trying to do my homework and he just came in here without knocking. And then he started talking to me about nonsense and wouldn't shut up! Then he got on my bed and started jumping. He kept on saying that he was going to fly like Superman!"

Clark sighed. "Caleb, you need to leave Love alone. She's trying to do her homework."

Caleb frowned. "But Love is supposed the help me learn how to fly." he pouted. "I want to fly like you, Daddy."

"If you want to fly, you need to start behaving better and listen to what we tell you to do." Clark told him.

"Yes sir." he said half-heartedly.

"Go downstairs. Your mom has a snack for you."

Caleb smiled and he ran down stairs and into the kitchen.

One down, one more to go, Clark thought grimly. "Why were you holding him upside down like that?" he asked Love.

"I don't know. I thought that maybe he would leave if I did." Love said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Love, you know better than that." Clark chastised.

"Whatever." Love mumbled. She walked to her desk and sat back down.

"We're not done, Love."

"Dad, please, can you just leave me alone?" Love asked. She was very irritated at the moment. After finding out in the middle of the school day that Evelyn didn't show up to any of her classes, Love had to started explaining to the teachers that Evelyn had stayed at home with a cold. Then Evelyn shows up looking pretty healthy for the last class of the day. Love seriously wanted to strangle Evelyn because of the way she was behaving. Then on the ride home, Evelyn wouldn't tell Love where she had gone.

Clark sighed. "What happened, Love? Tell me everything that happened when I was gone." Clark took a seat on her bed.

Love looked at Clark, unsure if she should say. "Everyone changed after you stopped visiting. Mom was struggling more and more with both Evelyn and Caleb. Caleb would cause total destruction in the house with his powers and Evelyn would get into trouble a lot in school. Evelyn completely changed, Caleb always asked when you were going to come home, Mom was getting even more tired every day." Love could see that what she was saying was making Clark upset, but someone had to tell him. "I'm really sorry Dad."

Clark gave her a half-smile. "You have nothing to apologize for. I should've been here, but I wasn't. I promise you, I'm going to make it up to all of you." Clark said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

Love smiled and she nodded.

Clark walked towards the door, but before he exited, he had one last question. "Where's Evelyn?"

"I think she went in your room. I don't know what she's doing in there."

Clark was slightly surprised that Evelyn had come home. From what Lois had told him, she would get home late in the evening. Clark left the room and walked to his and Lois' room. The door was closed. He knocked softly on it, but there was no answer. He opened the door slightly and saw Evelyn asleep on the bed.

Clark walked inside and he knelt down beside the bed. He pushed her bangs aside. For a moment, it was as if she was his little bud again. He sighed, wishing that he had that time back. He stood up and looked down at her. Evelyn's face had scrunched up in pain. She started moaning softly. Clark continued watching her, becoming concerned. But her moaning stopped and she resumed her peaceful slumber. Clark was going to have to talk with Lois, make sure that Evelyn was all right.

He walked out of the room and back into the kitchen. Lois was sharing an apple with Caleb. She looked up. "Did you fix the problem?"

"Yeah. I talked with Love and Caleb. Hopefully they won't do it again, right Caleb?"

"Yes sir." Caleb still didn't like what Clark had told him, but he didn't argue.

"Evelyn's home." Clark said as he took a seat.

"Really? Well, that's a first…" Lois said.

"Has Evelyn gotten sick this year?" Clark asked as he took a slice of an apple.

"No, not really. Except for a cold that she gets every year around _that_ time of year."

"What time of year?"

"You know…"

"No…"

Lois sighed. How could Clark be so dull? "Remember when she was eight and she caught that horrible cold?"

Clark remembered. "She still gets sick from that?"

"Yeah. I've taken her to the doctor a few times. They always say that she just has a low immune system and that she should take more vitamins."

Clark furrowed his eye brows. "And that's it?"

"Yeah. If anything, you should ask Love. She was the one that would tell me when Evelyn would start coughing at nights."

"Evelyn wouldn't tell you?"

"No. I think she freaked out the last time she had to go to the hospital." Lois said.

Clark thought a moment. She wasn't there when Caleb was born? Clark thought a bit longer and remembered that she wasn't. Her and Love had stayed with Chloe and Jimmy. The last time Evelyn was in a hospital was when Lois had been injured and Clark had practically died.

Clark realized that Evelyn had been deeply scarred by that eventful night. She never really talked to anyone about it. After it had happened, no one ever mentioned it. They preferred it if it stayed hidden in their past.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Caleb whined from the back of the truck.

"No, Caleb. Why don't you look outside the window." Clark said as he gripped the steering wheel. That was the twentieth time Caleb had asked that question and Clark was getting annoyed quickly.

Lois smiled as she looked in the rearview mirror. Caleb had done what Clark had told him to do, but his lips were pouted out. He looked so funny and cute. Love was sending a text message no doubt to Ella or Josh, and Evelyn was listening to her iPod.

"Daddy, there's nothing cool to look at." Caleb complained.

Lois chuckled as she heard Clark groan. "We're almost there, Caleb. Now can you be quiet for the rest of the ride?" Lois intervened.

"Okay." Caleb said, not really liking the idea, but agreeing with it anyways.

Clark thought during the silence in the van. There were several things pressing on his mind. What he should do about Evelyn, what Love had told him, and what had been going on with Richard and Lois while he was gone. The last idea was quickly taking over his thoughts. But his thinking time was interrupted by Caleb once again.

"Daddy, is Nana going to be there?" Caleb asked in a completely innocent voice.

"I don't know. Didn't your mom tell you to hush?" Clark told him a little shortly.

"Calm down Smallville." Lois said easily.

Clark breathed in deeply as he listened to Lois' advice. He looked in the rear view mirror and saw Evelyn smiling. He hadn't seen that smile in a while. Clark wondered what was going on inside her mind.

Evelyn was actually listening to everything that was going on. She had the volume low on her iPod. When she heard that Martha might be there, a smile came to her face. She loved Martha dearly and was so happy to hear that she might be there.

Clark felt Lois place her hand on his. "What's going on in that head of yours, Smallville?"

Clark looked down at her hand then back to the road. "Nothing."

Lois raised an eye brow. "Don't lie to me, Clark. I know when there's something on your mind. Spill it before I force it out."

Clark chuckled. Lois would always stay the same. "I'll tell you later." Clark pulled up into a driveway. "We're here." he announced to all of his passengers.

Caleb let out a shout of glee as he climbed over Love to get out of the truck. "Mommy, how come all the lights are off?" Caleb asked.

Lois stepped out of the truck and looked at the house. Sure enough, it was pitch black. She looked to Clark. He was slipping on his glasses and he noticed the darkness too. "I don't know, honey." Lois told him.

"You did call them before we left, right?" Clark asked Lois as he walked up the porch steps.

"Yes, Smallville." Lois said in an annoyed voice. "I might forget to do some things, but I didn't forget this."

Clark grinned as he rung the doorbell. Lois stood next to him and Evelyn and Love had taken a seat on the bench while Caleb was running around the front yard. They waited for a few moments, but there was no answer. Clark tried the door knob. It was unlocked. He looked to Lois, unsure if he should open the door. Lois gave him a nod and he pushed the door open.

"Surprise!!" several people inside the house yelled as the lights came on.

Clark smiled when he saw who it was. It was Chloe, Jimmy, their four kids, Kara, Oliver, Bart, Martha, and even Bruce.

"Welcome back Clark!" Chloe said as she gave her good friend a long hug. "What's with the glasses?"

"Kind of stopped using contacts." Clark said, hoping Chloe would drop it. Jimmy still didn't know his secret and he'd like to keep it that way. "Hey Chloe. Did you start highlighting your hair?" Clark asked.

"No, what are you talking about?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, well it's just that there's a lot of white hairs. I thought that you started dying it."

"Shut up!" Chloe said as she slapped him on his chest.

Clark just laughed. He went down a line as he hugged each person.

"Clark I can't believe you!" Kara said as she punched Clark hard on his arm.

Clark winced. He really did feel that one. "What was that for?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you were back? I had to find out from Bart who found out from Ollie." Kara demanded.

"I don't know. I got busy." Clark said.

Kara frowned. "Well, I guess it's good to have you back." Kara said.

Clark smiled as he pulled her into a hug. He walked to Martha and gave her a nice long hug. "Hey Mom."

"Oh sweetie." Martha had grown older after Clark had left. She had many wrinkles on her face and her hair was almost all white now. But Clark still thought that she was a beautiful woman. "We all missed you." she whispered in his ear. "But you really need to talk with Evelyn."

Clark pulled away and frowned, not knowing what Martha knew. Martha just smiled and she walked away.

"Hey man. It's good to see you alive." Bruce said as they shook hands.

"You should've seen what happened to him last time he went up north." Oliver said jokingly.

Clark smiled. "Sorry I didn't drop by and visit earlier."

"Don't worry about it dude." Bart said. "We've been pretty busy lately anyways."

"Uncle Clark! Uncle Clark!" exclaimed Christopher and Charles. They each grabbed one of his legs and held on tightly.

"Hi Uncle Clark." Julie and Joanne both said as they hugged him from either side.

Clark smiled as he tried hugging them all. "Hey guys. How are you treating your mom and dad?"

"Good!" Charles yelled out.

"I think that's a question for the parents." Jimmy said with a smirk.

"Where's Caleb?" Christopher asked.

"He's outside." Clark said.

"Daddy! I'm right here!" Caleb said. He was sitting on Martha's lap.

Clark didn't see him come in. "Did you say hello to everyone?"

Caleb nodded as he and the twins went off to go play.

Clark looked around. Everyone here was his family. It had been a while since there was a reunion like this. He smiled as he saw Love laughing with Julie and Joanne, Lois talking with Chloe and Martha, Bart was trying to pull a prank on Bruce, Oliver was watching Bart disapprovingly while Kara was trying really hard not to laugh loudly. But Clark saw Evelyn sitting on the couch alone. He remembered when he had taken him to Martha's house for the first day of school in second grade. She had been sitting alone there too.

Clark walked towards her and sat down next to her. "Hey, how're you feeling?"

"I'm tired." Evelyn told him honestly.

"You don't look too good. Why don't you ask Aunt Chloe if you can take a nap upstairs."

Evelyn gave him a look that said she didn't think his idea was good. But she got up anyways and Clark watched her ask Chloe a question. Chloe nodded her head and pointed down the hall. Evelyn smiled and said a thank you and started walking to one of the bedrooms.

Clark felt the couch lower a bit. Lois came and sat next to him. "You knew about this didn't you?" he asked her.

Lois grinned. "Chloe called me and told me about it."

Clark smiled.

"You didn't cheat or anything right?" Lois asked as she placed her hand on his leg and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I was tempted to, just to be sure there wasn't going to be any surprise, but I didn't."

Lois patted his leg. "Good, because if you did, I was going to have kill you for ruining it for Chloe."

Clark grinned. "Then I would've come back and haunted you."

Lois chuckled. "What's wrong with Evelyn?" she asked turning serious.

"I don't know. She said that she was feeling tired. I told her to take a nap."

"But she had been asleep at the house for almost three hours."

"I think there might be something more, but she won't tell us."

"Lois, Clark! Dinner's on the table already!" Chloe said.

"Come on, we'll talk about it later. They're waiting for us." Lois said as she looked around the now empty living room.

* * *

"…and they were all completely covered in mud! How they did it, I still don't understand." Bart told the people sitting at the table. He was telling them one of his adventures he had in babysitting Christopher, Charles, and Caleb. All three of those boys could cause so much trouble.

Clark and Lois were laughing along with all the other adults sitting at the table. Clark looked over at Caleb playing on the Wii with Charles and Christopher. Caleb was definitely Lois' son. He could cause so much trouble. Joanne and Julie had taken Love to their room and they were talking about girl stuff. Evelyn still hadn't gotten up. Clark had checked on her and she was sleeping soundly.

Bruce started fiddling with something in his suit jacket. He pulled it out and looked at it underneath the table. "I'm going to need to go. Something came up at Wayne Industries."

All the people with dual identities sat up straight, knowing exactly what Bruce was referring to. "Do you think you're going to need any help?" Kara asked.

"No, I think Bruce Wayne can handle this. I'll call if I need back up."

"We'll see you later, Bruce." Jimmy said as he stood up and shook Bruce's hand. Bruce said his quick good byes and left.

"I should get going to." Martha said as she looked at her watch. "It's getting late for me." Martha gave everyone a kiss on the check. She was practically their own mother anyways. She said good bye to Chloe's and Jimmy's kids and to her grandchildren. She quietly said good bye to Evelyn who was still asleep.

Clark stretched his arms and draped one of them over Lois' shoulder. "Any more stories you can think of?" Clark asked with a smile on his face.

* * *

Evelyn tossed and turned underneath the bed in the guest bedroom. Her sleep had been peaceful, but something had changed. Something was wrong. She knew Martha had come in a said good bye, but she wasn't completely awake. A few minutes after she left, Evelyn felt herself fall and hit the ground, but she never woke up. She curled up in a tight ball and rolled underneath the bed. Evelyn breathed short breaths. Her face was covered in sweat, but if you touched her forehead, it was cold.

She was having a nightmare. But everything in her nightmare had actually happened. Evelyn could recall all of it with precise detail. She squeezed her eyes and tears seeped through. Her breathing was becoming more ragged. "No…quit it…stop…" she muttered in her sleep. Her dream was becoming more intense. "Leave them alone…" It was too much. Evelyn began yelling, screaming inhumanely.

* * *

Everyone at the table was laughing. Kara had just told them one of the stories that she had to tell.

"Daddy, I'm sleepy. I wanna go home." Caleb said as he climbed up on Clark's lap.

None of the adults noticed him coming in and were a but understood that he was still young and needed much rest. "What time is it?" Clark asked Lois.

Lois pulled out her phone and looked at the time. "Oh wow. It's late. We really should be going."

"AHHH!!!"

"Evelyn!" Clark quickly set Caleb down and had to remember that he couldn't super-speed. He ran to the room Evelyn was in. He didn't see her, but he could hear her yelling. "Where is she?!" Clark asked, clearly frustrated. Clark walked to the bed. He checked underneath it and found Evelyn screaming and clutching a pillow. Clark reached for her and pulled her out. He held her firmly in his arms against her kicking.

"No! Let me go! Let me go!" Evelyn cried out.

"Shh, Evelyn! It's me, it's dad." Clark coaxed as he brushed away her hair.

"No…leave them alone." Evelyn was still asleep, but she was calming down. Her face was wet from tears.

"Someone get me wet towel." Clark said.

Jimmy ran to get one while Chloe ushered her boys and Caleb out of the room.

Lois walked near them and bent down on her knees. Love stayed in the doorway and watched them. Jimmy came back with the wet towel and handed it to Lois. She took it and began wiping Evelyn's face with it while Clark continued cradling her in his arms. "She's not waking up, Lois." Clark said, looking worriedly at Evelyn. She had become so pale.

"Clark, don't worry. She'll wake up." Lois told him soothingly.

Clark sighed. "Come on, bud. Wake up for me."

Evelyn's breathing was shaky and she was starting to clutch her chest, but whatever nightmare she was having seemed to end. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Clark. A small smile could be seen on her face. "Daddy…"

"Yeah, bud. It's me. I'm still here."

Evelyn moaned and she looked around. Her cheeks started burning red. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Evelyn. It's okay." Lois told her.

Evelyn nodded and she buried her head in Clark's chest, wishing she could disappear. She wasn't apologizing for the screaming and yelling she had done. She was apologizing for what she was going to have to do. For helping Lex Luthor get out of jail.

"I think we should go now." Clark announced. He carried Evelyn and took her outside to the truck. He had no idea what had happened to Evelyn, but he really needed to figure it out.

* * *

Love opened the door to the room she and Evelyn shared. She just got out of the shower and was now ready for bed. On the way home, it had been completely silent, even Caleb had been quiet. What had happened with Evelyn made everyone really worried.

Evelyn was laying on her bed, starring up at the ceiling. She wasn't asleep and it looked like she didn't want to go to sleep.

Love laid down on her bed and got underneath the covers. The only light that was on was the lamp on her nightstand. "Are you ready for me to turn off the light?"

Evelyn groaned. "Do you have to?"

"Since when have you been afraid of the dark?"

"I'm not afraid, I'm just not ready to go to bed." Evelyn said lamely.

"Right…" Love said unbelievingly. "Does this have anything to do with what happened at Uncle Jimmy's and Aunt Chloe's?"

Evelyn didn't say anything.

"Evelyn, it's okay to talk about it. Besides, Dad always says-"

"I know what he always says, Love. You don't have to repeat it to me."

"If you know what he always says, then why won't you talk about the dream?"

Evelyn sighed. She might as well tell someone. "Do you remember Lex Luthor?"

Love thought a moment. "Not really. Didn't he try and do something to Dad?"

Evelyn was jealous that Love had forgotten most of that night. She wished that she could have amnesia. "Yeah. He was in my dream. All of us were in a dark room, you, me, Caleb, Mom, Dad. I blinked and I was alone. There were TV screens around me showing each of you. Lex was in them all and he had a gun. He shot the gun, and everyone died." Evelyn was trying really hard to hold back her tears.

Love got up from her bed, knowing what Evelyn needed. A hug. She sat on Evelyn's bed and Evelyn sat up too. The two girls embraced each other and Evelyn began crying.

Love rubbed her back soothingly having seen Lois and Clark do it to anyone who was crying. "Don't worry about it Evelyn. Nothing bad is going to happen."

"Last time someone told me that both Dad and Mom nearly died." Evelyn said in between her sobs.

"But this time is different. I promise."

Evelyn wanted to believe her and for a moment she actually did. But that same pain in her chest came and something in her heart told her that something huge was about to happen.

* * *

A short and stout man walked inside Belle Reeve. He walked up to the front desk and spoke to the receptionist. "I'd like to visit a patient ma'am."

The woman looked up. "I'm sorry sir, but visiting hours are over."

"Oh, come on. Can't you make an exception?"

The woman looked at the man intently. He could be handsome, but he needed some work. The woman looked around. There were no security guards. "I guess. I need your name."

"Eddie Turner."

"The patient you want to visit."

"Patient 246."

The woman typed something into her computer. "He's in the drawing room right now. Walk straight down this hallway and make a right into the second room."

"Thank you." Eddie walked away and followed the woman's instructions. He found who he was looking for sitting on a stool painting a picture. Eddie grabbed an empty stool and sat next to him.

"I expect you have some news." patient 246 said.

"I do. I contacted the woman you wanted me to talk to. She said that she had been visited by one of them. It seems like the kid was convinced to do what needed to be done."

"Has a date been set?"

"In a few weeks."

"What about the project?"

"We found what we needed. In about a month, it should be awakened."

The patient looked up to the TV screen. Superman was waving to a camera before he took off into the sky to save some other helpless person. "Excellent."

* * *

a/n: we came home from mexico and it was really amazing. i was super sad to leave those kids. i wanted to cry. :'( but we're going to be making more trips down there so i'm happy! but if we do, then there will be weeks that i'm not going to be able to update. sorry about that. hope you like this chapter, it was supposed to be shorter, but things just kept on popping in my head that i wanted to add. reviews are always appreciated, they keep me encouraged and make me want to update sooner. next chapter up by saturday? maybe? i don't know...


	6. Talking

Talking

Evelyn rolled around on her bed. She and Love stayed up all last night just talking. It had been such a long time since they had done that. Evelyn liked it. She was able to get some things off of her chest. Maybe not everything, but she had been able to talk with her about some of the things she couldn't talk with Josh about. But there were still some things that she hadn't told anybody. Like how out of place she was starting to feel in her family now.

Evelyn looked over at Love's bed. It had already been made in the neat fashion Love would always make it in. Evelyn looked at the clock on her nightstand. It was ten thirty. Evelyn's eyes went huge. She had over slept! She couldn't afford to miss school! She needed to go. She was already in some trouble for skipping, now she was going to show up half way through school!

Evelyn threw on some clothes, not even checking to make sure they matched. She ran to the bathroom and brushed her teeth quickly. She picked her hair up into a messy ponytail and ran back to her room. Her books were scattered everywhere so she only grabbed the ones that she was definitely going to need and stuffed them in her back pack. She ran down the stairs and saw Lois and Love eating breakfast.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." Lois said with a smirk. "Did you get a good rest?" she added more seriously.

"Uh, yeah." Evelyn set her back pack on the floor. "Why aren't you at school and why aren't you at work?" Evelyn asked both Lois and Love.

"I sort of woke up late too, but Mom and Dad said that we could stay home today." Love said with a smile.

"And I called Perry and told him that I was taking the morning off while Clark would take the afternoon off."

"So he's at the Planet right now?" Evelyn asked.

"Nope, he's in Pakistan. A flood broke out and he went to help rescue efforts." Lois explained.

Evelyn looked at the TV in the living room. It was muted, but it was on the news channel. Like Lois had said, Superman had shown up to help with the rescue efforts. Evelyn sighed. She really wished that he wasn't there right now. "Do I get to stay home too?"

"I think it's a little too late for you to go to school, don't you think so?" Lois said as she got up to refill her cup of coffee.

Evelyn gave her a small smile and she sat down. Lois handed her a plate of pancakes. They didn't look like anything was wrong with them, but Lois' cooking could be so deceiving.

Love giggled at the faces Evelyn was making while Lois rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Evelyn. I didn't cook them. Your dad did."

Evelyn smiled as she poured a touch of strawberry syrup over her pancakes. She grabbed a fork and knife and began eating. It was weird that she wasn't that hungry. Yesterday she hadn't really eaten anything except for a piece of toast. She really didn't have that big of an appetite anymore.

"Are you okay Evelyn?" Lois asked suddenly.

Evelyn looked up, one of cheeks puffed up from her chewed pancakes. She nodded then looked to Love wondering if she told her anything. Love shook her head, knowing what Evelyn was wondering.

"Positive?" Lois continued.

"Yes, I said I was fine."

Lois studied her some more. "Have you been feeling sick?"

Evelyn put down her fork with a loud clang. "I said I was fine. Why do you keep on bothering me with questions?"

"Because Evelyn, you don't look fine. Even before your dad came back home you were looking weaker every day. Is there something you're not telling us?"

Evelyn was about to lash out at Lois, but Love saved her. "Uh, Mom, I think I heard one of the cows break a fence again."

Lois groaned. "Are you serious?"

Love nodded.

"All right, you and Evelyn make sure none of the cows get out. I'll get your dad to fix it later."

"Okay." Love slipped off the stool she was sitting on.

Evelyn took one last bite before she followed Love out the door. They started walking together to the field where the cows grazed. "Did you really here one of the cows break the fence?" Evelyn asked.

Love smiled. "No, but I saw that look on your face. You were going to yell at Mom weren't you?"

Evelyn sighed. "I just don't like it whenever they ask me so many questions."

"You need to tell them what you told me last night." Love insisted.

"What part? We were up like half the night." Evelyn said with a chuckle.

Love stayed serious. "I'm talking about you having trouble breathing and your chest hurting. They need to know. Maybe something's wrong." Love furrowed her eyebrows.

Evelyn looked at her. Love looked like Clark whenever she would do that. Evelyn wished she knew who she looked like when it came to her biological parents. Her dad or mom. "I'll tell them eventually." Evelyn said as she kicked up some dirt.

They walked in silence for a little bit longer, but Love interrupted it. "You know, I really liked talking last night. It's been forever since we've done that."

"Yeah, I liked it too."

Love started noticing Evelyn was acting more and more like her old self. "Why did we stop?"

Evelyn stopped walking and looked up at Love. "I don't know. Middle School hit." Evelyn started.

"We became teenagers." Love added.

"Changes happened to us."

"Changes we didn't expect to happen."

"He stopped visiting us."

Love sighed. Clark had been one of their major topics last night. Both girls expressed how they felt about him coming back. They both said that they were happy that he finally came back home, but Evelyn was angry at him. Love wasn't angry at him, but she felt that he was distant. "But he still came back."

"I know, it's just…never mind."

"Evelyn, what is it?"

"I said never mind." she snapped. Evelyn exhaled deeply. Did her chest really have to start hurting right now?

Love held up her hands in surrender. "All right. Sorry I spoke."

"I didn't mean to snap like that. It's just…I'm frustrated with this whole thing."

"I know." Love looked at her watch. "Do you think if we go back, Mom will think that we actually did check?"

"Yeah, I'm getting tired anyways." Evelyn said.

Love watched Evelyn. She did look tired, but she had looked like that for a while now, even before they started walking. It was both a physical and emotional tired. Evelyn had a lot of things that needed to be taken care of and she could only clear those things up with Clark.

* * *

Evelyn and Love sat on the couch while they watched Lois gathering her things. She was about to leave for work. Inside Lois' head, she was going over a mental checklist. It was her daily routine she would do before leaving for work.

"Okay, I think I'm ready." Lois said as she looked at Love and Evelyn with a satisfied look.

"Are you sure?" Love asked. A minute after Lois would leave for the Daily Planet, she would turn around and grab something that she forgot.

"Yes, Lovely. I'm positive." Lois said as she narrowed her eyes.

Love grinned back, using some Kent charm.

"You forgot that folder that you hid on top of the refrigerator." Evelyn said plainly.

Lois looked at her weird, but she went to check anyways. There was a folder like Evelyn had said. She opened it and flipped through some of the pages. It was some information that she was gathering for a big article she was writing. It was another exposé on LuthorCorp. There was a large warehouse that they had bought and a lot of equipment was being shipped to it. Lois knew something was up and it couldn't be anything good.

Clark didn't know about the article, though. If he did, he'd make her drop it for sure. "Oh my goodness, I can't believe I almost forgot about this! Thank you Evelyn!"

The door opened and Clark walked in. "Hey, Lo." he said as he walked up to her and gave her a kiss.

"Hey to you too Smallville." Lois said. She quickly hid the folder in her briefcase.

Clark felt as if Lois was hiding something from him, but he wasn't going to press the matter, at least not yet. He walked over to Love and Evelyn and gave them both kisses on the top of their heads. "Hey bud, Lovely."

"Hey Dad." Love said.

"Hello." Evelyn muttered out.

Clark frowned. Just last night she was calling him daddy again, but now she would barely say hello? This was too confusing for him but he was going to make an effort.

"Smallville, can you go to the store. I was going to go earlier, but we started messing around." Lois said with a smile.

Love smiled too and even Evelyn had a smile on her face. "What were you doing?" Clark asked them.

"Oh, nothing." Love said.

"Yeah…nothing." Lois said with a mischievous smile. "Bye girls! Catch you later, Smallville." Lois said with a wink. She was out the door and was heading to the Daily Planet.

"Where do you want to eat?" Clark asked both the girls as he walked into the kitchen. He took off his coat and glasses. He opened the cabinets and started making a mental list of things they needed from the store.

"Are there any good Mexican restaurants?" Love asked from the couch.

"Not here. This is Smallville remember? You're limited on foreign food."

"Right…"

"How about we go to the Talon?" Evelyn spoke up.

"The Talon?" Clark asked. "You sure?"

"Yeah, let's go to the Talon." Love agreed.

"Okay. Go get your jackets and let's go." Clark told them.

Love and Evelyn went up the stairs and came back down with their jackets on. It was starting to get chillier outside. It was already the ending of October, November was right next door. The month Evelyn would always get sick.

* * *

Clark held the door open for Love and Evelyn as they walked inside the Talon. It was quiet and calm. The lunch crowd had just left. The three of them sat down. "Uh, why don't you guys go ahead and order something? I'll be right back." Clark said as he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Love asked.

"There's something I've got to take care of. I'll be right back." Clark said as he walked to the door and left them alone.

Evelyn sighed. "Figures he'd leave us when we were about to hang out."

"Evelyn, I don't think that's fair. He has to do this." Love leaned in and began whispering. "Someone has to save the world."

Evelyn rolled her eyes. She knew that Clark had more important things to take care of than to hang out with her and Love. She just wished that when he did decide to hang out with them, he wouldn't leave. Evelyn pulled out her iPod and slouched in her chair. Right now she felt as if she could disappear.

Love grimaced. Evelyn was going back into her shell. It seemed she was going to keep going deeper into it if Clark didn't talk to her right now.

The waitress came up to them and asked for their orders. Love asked for a sandwich, but Evelyn declined from having anything but a drink.

The door opened again and Clark was coming in. He "accidentally" bumped into a waitress carrying a tray full of drinks. They spilled everywhere, but miraculously, it didn't get on anybody.

"Golly ma'am, I…I'm so sorry. I did-didn't mean to get it all…over you." Clark's stuttered apology came out.

Evelyn and Love exchanged a look. Why was he stuttering and acting weird. They also seemed to notice that he was wearing his glasses this time.

After a full minute of apologizing, Clark finally came back to the table and sat down with them.

"What was that all about?" Love asked.

"What are you talking about?" Clark asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

"The whole bumping into the waitress and stuttering like an idiot." Love explained.

"Oh that. It kind of helps keep the Clark Kent persona separate from, well, my other one."

Evelyn gave him a look and he noticed it. "Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. Everything is just peachy." Evelyn said with sarcasm in her voice.

Clark could see that she was upset, but he didn't know what about.

"So where did you go?" Love asked trying to break the silent tension.

"Detroit." Clark didn't go further.

Love sighed. She thought that they were all going to sit down and have a nice long chat, try and become the family that they were supposed to be. Guess not.

"What did you guys order?" Clark asked.

"A sandwich." Love answered.

"What about you Evelyn?"

"Nothing." Evelyn pulled out one of her ear phones.

"You're not hungry?"

"No, not really."

"Are you sure? Why don't you try eating something?"

"I said I wasn't hungry."

"Evelyn, you're going to get hungry when we get home. I don't want you in the kitchen trying to look for something to eat."

"I'm not going to be doing that!"

"Uh, hey Dad, what are you going to order?" Love asked, quickly intervening, knowing it was going to get messy soon if she didn't interrupt them.

Clark looked at her with a blank look at first, but understood what she was trying to do. "I, uh, don't know yet."

The silent tension returned again. Love wanted to scream from the ridiculousness of it all. Why couldn't they just talk about what was on their minds? "So…how's work?" Love asked.

"Oh it's great. You know, I used to work at the Daily Planet before. Your mom was actually the one who got me to apply there."

Evelyn had never heard this side of the story pulled out her ear phones and started listening.

"Really? Where were you working?"

"Down in the basement, in a desk right across from your mom."

"I bet that was great."

"Yeah…" Clark began remembering some great times with Lois at the Daily Planet.

Evelyn didn't understand Clark. If he really loved Lois that much, why did he end up marrying Lana? She understood that everyone thought that Lois had died, but If he really loved her, he wouldn't have even thought about marrying any other woman. "Did you love her a lot? Before everything happened?" Evelyn asked.

Clark nodded his head. "You have no idea how much I loved her. And I love her even more. She's given me two wonderful children and has been an amazing mother to you and Love and Caleb." Clark said with an endearing smile.

"So why'd you marry Lana?" Evelyn's voice came out accusatory.

Clark clenched his jaw slightly. "That's something that I don't feel very comfortable talking about."

"Oh you can tell us about it. I mean, I _was_ her daughter for what six years? I have to say, not the best years of my life, but hey, we all move on."

"Evelyn, hush." Love whispered to her.

"Evelyn, is there something you need to tell me?"

"Nope, not at all." Evelyn sat back and crossed her arms. She suddenly felt very guilty for bringing that up. She knew that Clark had such a hard time. She was the one that had seen him go through most of it, she even saw how heart broken Clark had been at the cemetery at Lois' tombstone. Why was she acting like this? Why was she lashing out cruelly at him? Evelyn swallowed a groan she felt coming up in her throat.

Clark tried his best to act calmly. Evelyn's questions had cut him deep. Clark grabbed his cup of coffee and took a drink from it. He reached over to the table next to him and grabbed the newspaper. He opened it and began reading.

Love rolled her eyes. How could Evelyn be so cold like that? She actually thought that they were going to at least get along during this lunch. Love grabbed a napkin and pulled out a pen. She started writing a note to Evelyn. 'What the heck are you doing?!' she passed it to Evelyn.

Evelyn took the pen from Love. 'I don't know. I just sort of came out.'

'Sort of? How could that sort of come out?! Evelyn, Dad's really making an effort to be our Dad again. Why do you keep acting rude to him?!'

'Look, Love, I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean for it to come out that way.'

Love looked at Evelyn. She really seemed sincere. 'Then apologize to him.'

Evelyn showed on her face that she didn't want to go along with that idea.

Love mouthed to her to do it now.

Evelyn sighed. She cleared her throat. "Uh…Dad?"

"Yes?" Clark asked without looking away from the newspaper.

Evelyn calmed her beating heart and tried to regulate her breathing. "I'm sorry for what I said. It wasn't…right."

Clark finally set down the newspaper. "Evelyn, if you really need to talk about something, I'm here. I'll listen. All you have to do is stop me and I'll listen. Are you sure there's nothing that's bothering you?"

"I'm sure." Evelyn lied.

* * *

Lois walked into Perry's office. "What's up chief?"

Perry groaned. He hated it when Lois would call him that, but he never told her that. "Where's my Superman interview?"

Lois cursed inwardly. Clark still hadn't sat down with her to get it done. "I'm trying to figure out how to contact him." she said awkwardly.

Perry grumbled something incoherently. "How's the family? I know it must be hard for thekids to get used to having their dad back."

"Caleb seems to be adjusting well, Love needs a little bit of time, but she'll be fine with it."

"And Evelyn?"

"What can I say? She's having a really hard time with this. Evelyn's got a lot of stuff to deal with and she needs to sit down to talk with Clark about them. I've already tried doing it, but there are some things that Clark needs to hear."

Perry nodded as he listened to Lois explain what was going on. "Now what about you? How are you taking this?"

"I'm the happiest I've ever been." Lois said with a gracious smile.

"Are you sure? There's nothing that you need to tell Clark about that happened while he was gone?"

Lois paused. She thought about Richard and all that had happened between them. Richard had showed up about four years ago. He had been a great friend, helping her with the kids whenever she got caught up with work, and just being there whenever she had to vent. But something had changed over the years. Richard started becoming too friendly. Coming to the farm unexpectedly, leaving notes on her desks along with flowers and chocolates. Then there was that time where he cornered her in the empty conference room and actually kissed her. Lois winced as she recalled that, but a smile came to her face as she remembered where she kicked him and how long Richard couldn't walk right. But she couldn't tell Clark any of this. He wouldn't understand. "No…I can't think of anything."

"Lois…tell the truth."

"I'm telling the truth, chief! Now if that's all you wanted to talk about, I've got some work to take care of." Lois said as she stood up and walked back out. She sat at her desk and began opening e-mails that looked like promising leads.

"Hey, Lois."

Lois groaned. She swore, every time she heard his voice, it was like someone pushing all of her buttons at once. "What do you want, Richard?"

"I can't come up and see how my favorite person in the world is doing?"

Lois turned around and looked at him. "Go away Richard. I don't want to talk to you now or ever."

"Oh come on, Lois. At least talk to me when your oh so faithful husband isn't around."

"Don't you ever talk about him like that!" Lois raised her voice.

"What? I didn't say anything that could insult him. In fact, I was complimenting him." Richard said in that annoying voice of his.

Lois groaned. Why wouldn't he leave her alone. "Don't you have something to take care of? Like…I don't know, your huge ego?" Lois stood up and began walking towards the fax machine.

Richard chuckled as he followed her. "Come on, Lois. How about we go out for a coffee break. I know how many times you go out every day for a coffee break."

"Jeez, do you have tracking devices planted on me?" Lois grabbed some papers that had been printed and started walking back to her desk.

Richard was like a pesky mosquito. He just kept making her itchier and itchier. "No, not yet." he replied.

Lois rolled her eyes and she was about to tell him off, but Jimmy stopped her.

"Lois!" Jimmy called from across the room. "Come over here for a second."

"Get a life, Richard. One that doesn't include me at all." Lois told him shortly. She left him behind at her desk and walked over to Jimmy's "What have you got for me?"

"You're not going to believe this." Jimmy told her as he typed something into the computer. "You might want to sit down."

Lois looked at him weird, but took a seat nonetheless. "Come on Jimmy. I don't have all day."

"All right. Check this out." Jimmy scrolled down some on the webpage and highlighted the area he wanted Lois to read.

Lois quickly read over the few paragraphs. Her heart stopped. It couldn't be true. She read over it again, maybe she had misread something. What if they were talking about something else? Lois read it five times, the words not changing their meanings. Patient 246 was cured. He was going to be released. "They're letting Lex out of Belle Reeve." she said out loud, not believing a word that she had spoken. But it was true. Lex Luthor had been released. He was walking the streets a free man.

"Yeah, but he's going to have a court date to see if they really do want to let him out. They're going to call witnesses to the stand of course and guess who's on the list."

Lois looked at Jimmy, not knowing if she wanted to hear the answer. "Who?"

"Well, for sure, Clark and Evelyn." Jimmy gave her a sympathetic look.

Great. This was just perfect. This was exactly what they needed right now. Dredging up bad memories that they all still had trouble with, all except for Caleb and Love. Lois didn't know how Clark was going to react and to be honest, she was sort of scared.

* * *

Lex walked into the lab room. His newest assistant was there. So far he had proven faithful, but only time could tell if he could really trust him. Lex looked in through the window to the other room. There was a big lump of mass sitting on a table. "When will it be ready, Eddie?" Lex asked.

Eddie looked up from his clipboard. "In about a month or two. You don't want to rush this. Something could go wrong."

Lex nodded, understanding what could happen if something was rushed. "When's the court date?"

"In two or three weeks."

"Is she on the list?"

"Evelyn Dalisay Kent is on the witness list."

Lex smiled. "Good."

If only he could share this moment with Lana, then everything could be perfect. But it was close enough. Besides, he really didn't feel like listening to her whiny voice. Maybe it was for the best that she stayed in prison, even if she didn't want to be in there. He had become really fed up with her when he had been staying in prison. Every time she was given a phone call, she would insist on calling him. At first it was okay, but it had become so tiring! She would complain so much and ask him continuously when he was going to get her out of jail. He wasn't going to get her out of jail. Besides, who needed a companion when you had someone you were determined to eliminate?

* * *

a/n: wow i really did update on saturday! sure it may be like super late (or early, whichever one you want to call it) from where i am, but hey, it's done and i want it up! so i've been noticing that my chapters are gradually getting longer. i hope you people enjoy that fact. as always review/comment on the chapter, i really like hearing your input on this story. keeps me writing! can't really give an exact date this time for an update...hopefully no longer than a week.


	7. Intrusion

Intrusion

Lois came home from work feeling drained. After Jimmy had shown her those few paragraphs about Lex, her day was completely ruined. She walked inside the house, feeling a little bit of good energy, but it didn't really improve her mood.

In the living room, she could hear some laughing. It was Clark, Love, and Caleb. Curious as always, Lois walked into the living room to see why they were laughing. They were all sitting on the couch watching a home video. They were watching a recording of Caleb's fourth birthday.

"Come on Caleb! Use those big strong kryptonian lungs of yours!" Lois said from the video. She was the one recording it. Love and Evelyn were sitting on either side of him. They were both smiling and waiting for him to blow out the four candles.

Caleb only stared at the candles. "But it's a lot mommy! I don't think I can blow them all out." he pouted out.

"Come on Caleb! You can do it, just suck in a lot of air and blow. It's not that big of a deal." Love said.

Caleb frowned at her, but he turned to the cake with a more determined look. He sucked in air and his little face looked so funny as he held in that air. Everyone waited for him to blow, but he still wouldn't. He was just sitting there with all that air in his mouth.

"Aren't you going to blow them now?" Evelyn asked.

Caleb nodded and he blew out the candles, but he had sucked in way too much air. He ended up blowing away the entire cake, sending frosting and pieces of the cake everywhere. Lois, Evelyn, and Love all screeched as the cake went splattered all over the place. Caleb started laughing. "Look Mommy! I blew out the candles!"

The camera started shaking terribly and a napkin was wiped all over the lens. Lois appeared on the screen with a huge smile on her face. "Well, Smallville, seems Caleb has already found out about one of his super powers!"

"Wait until he finds out about his super-speed. Then you'll both have real fun with that one." Evelyn said.

"Let's just hope he doesn't end up running all the way to Minnesota." Love said jokingly.

They all laughed and the camera flicked off.

Lois walked into the living room and turned on the light. "Hey guys."

"Hi mom"

"Mommy! You're back!" Caleb exclaimed as he got up and hugged her legs.

"Hey Caleb. Hey Lovely."

Clark got up and stretched as he walked towards Lois. "Hey there beautiful." he leaned over Caleb and kissed Lois tenderly on the lips. "I missed you." Once they started kissing, Caleb let go of Lois, not liking where this was going.

Lois scoffed. "Oh get over it Smallville. I wasn't even gone for that long." she looked at Love and Caleb. "Hey, we're missing one. Where's Evelyn?"

"She's upstairs asleep. She said that she was sleepy." Clark explained as he wouldn't let go of her.

"Okay…" Lois waited for a few moments for Clark to let go of her. Instead he began swaying her and humming. Lois laughed. "Clark, I need to get Caleb to bed." she whispered.

"Caleb, go to bed." Clark told him.

"Aw, but I don't want to!" Caleb said.

"Don't worry, Smallville. I'll make sure we finish this." Lois said as she grabbed his arms and unwrapped them. She walked away from Clark and picked up Caleb. "Come on Love. You need to go to bed too."

Love got up and gave Clark a hug good night. He hugged her back and gave her a kiss on her head.

"Evelyn really didn't mean what she said at the Talon." Love told him. "You need to talk to her alone."

Clark looked down at Love. "Has she told you anything?"

"I've been sworn to sister secrecy." Love said with a tiny grin.

Clark chuckled. "I'll talk with her soon. Promise. Now get to bed." Clark said.

Love nodded her head and walked up the stairs.

Lois was still carrying Caleb as she walked into his room. Toys were laying everywhere on the floor. His glowing stars glued on the ceiling were starting to dim. Lois turned on a lamp by his bedside and laid him down gently on his bed. She tucked him in and brushed away his hair that was falling into his eyes. She gave him a kiss goodnight.

"Mommy?"

"Yes Caleb?"

"Is Daddy going to be here in the morning?"

"Of course, why would you ask that?"

"Cause when I woke up this morning, he wasn't here."

"Caleb, you have to understand that sometimes Daddy has to leave to go help somebody. But you shouldn't worry about him, you know why?"

"Cause then I'll get a tummy ache?"

Lois laughed quietly. "No, cause he will always come back, no matter what." Lois tapped his nose. "Good night, honey."

"Night Mommy."

Lois got off his bed and started walking to the door. She turned around and looked at him before she closed the door. He was already comfortable and had his eyes closed. Lois doubted that he was actually asleep though. She closed the door and started walking to her room. She still hadn't changed out of her work clothes and wanted to wear something comfortable.

Lois opened the door to the closet she and Clark shared. All of his old flannel had been replaced by suits and dress shirts. There was an occasional t-shirt here and there, but they weren't the same red and blue ones he would always wear as the red-blue blur. Lois pushed aside some of the clothes and found a flannel shirt that, as much as she hated to admit it, she had saved. Sure she made fun of Clark all the time for wearing his flannel, but after wearing it once for herself, she fell in love with the plaid material immediately. She took it off the hanger and slipped it on. She opened his drawer and put on one of his boxers. Tonight they were going to have a little fun.

Lois opened the door and started walking down stairs. "Smallville?" she called out in a sing-song tone. "Where are you?" Lois came to the last step and looked around. She couldn't see Clark anywhere. "Seriously, Clark. Where are you?"

There was a note on the kitchen counter. Lois grabbed it and started reading it. It looked like Clark had written it down in a hurry. 'Sorry Lois. Emergency in California. Be back soon.'

Lois sighed as she crumpled up the note and threw it in the trash can. His note really ruined her night.

She walked into the living room and sat down. Lois understood that Clark needed to help other people too, she was just going to have to get used to him leaving. It was true that she didn't want him to go away, but it was his destiny; to help people, and she had accepted that a long time ago. But that didn't stop her from wanting to be near him all the time.

Lois refused to let herself throw a pity party. She was completely against those. She stood up and walked into the kitchen where her briefcase was. She pulled out her laptop and turned it on. She waited a few seconds for it to warm up before she got on the internet. She typed in the home page for LuthorCorp. In the right top-hand corner, there was a box for someone to log on. Lois pulled out a sticky note from a folder and typed in the account number she had gotten from a source. She typed in the provided password and pressed enter. She was logged on with unlimited access to files.

A grin spread over her face as her fingers started flying away on the keyboard. There was so many expose's waiting to happen on this site, but there was one thing that she needed to check first. LuthorCorp had recently bought a warehouse and was transferring a lot of experimental supplies along with some type of meteor rock. They didn't say what type of meteor rock was being transported, but Lois would bet anything that it was some form of kryptonite.

She opened a file called Eversor. Lois had no idea what the name could mean. She made a mental note to look it up later. There were pages and pages of notes on some experiment they were conducting. Lois read the first page and couldn't understand what they were talking about, but if she guessed, she would say it was talking about a Frankenstein experiment.

"Hey, Lo. What are you doing?"

Lois looked up with wide eyes at Clark. She immediately closed all of he windows and closed the computer. "Nothing, just checking my e-mail." she said coolly.

Clark looked at her suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

Lois scoffed. "Of course I'm sure, Smallville."

Clark nodded and his eyes looked down at what she was wearing. "Is that flannel?"

Lois smiled as she stood up. "You bet." she said seductively.

Clark smiled like an idiot. "And you're also wearing my boxers. I can only hope this is a good thing."

"Oh, it's a very good thing." Lois said as she stood on his shoes and hugged his neck.

Clark wrapped his arms around her waist. "So where should we go? Upstairs in our room? Or somewhere totally unconventional?"

"You know, it's been a while since we've been in the hay."

"Then to the hay!"

"Calm yourself down, Clark." Lois said, her eyes wandering to his lower region. Her eyes went back to his eyes. "First we have some business to take care of."

"Oh really? What kind of business?"

"A Superman interview."

Clark groaned as he felt the mood slowly being killed. "Do we have to do it now?"

"Smallville, Perry's on me to get this done already."

"What happened to the Lois that would never pay attention to the deadline? The one that would always go over by a day or two?"

"She hasn't gone anywhere, Smallville. I've already past the deadline."

Clark let go of her and she stepped off his toes. "All right, then."

Lois grabbed her notepad and pen and sat down. "Have a seat please, Superman." she said with a grin.

Clark rolled his eyes as he pulled out a seat and sat down. "Thank you, Mrs. Lane-Kent." he said in his deep Superman voice.

"If you're going to call me by my last name just call me Lane, but you can call me Lois."

"Well then, thank you, Lois."

Lois started twirling her hair. "So tell me Superman, what are you?"

"You already know that, Lois." Clark moaned out.

"No, I would know the answer if it was Clark, but you're Superman right now."

Clark looked at her asking with his eyes if she was really being serious. He saw her dead seriousness. "All right fine. I'm a Kryptonian, from the planet Krypton."

"Now is that with a 'C' or a 'K'"

Clark gave her a pointed look. Lois just laughed. "I'm just messing with you, Smallville." Lois put the end of her pen in her mouth and began chewing on it. "Next question, why are you here?"

"Lois…do we really have to go through all these questions?" Clark whined out.

Lois looked at him as he cast her his puppy face. Lois shook her head. "All right, we'll go to something that I don't know."

"But you know everything already."

"Nope. There's one thing that I can't figure out."

Clark waited for her to speak.

"What were you thinking wearing your bright red underwear on the outside?!"

Clark smiled. "It's supposed to distract people from looking at my face too long."

Lois narrowed his eyes. "That is the worst excuse I have ever heard."

Clark chuckled as he stood up. "If we're done here Ms. Lane, I'd like to take you flying." Clark spun around at super speed and was now standing in front of her with his Superman uniform. He held his hand out for her grab.

Lois stood up and grabbed his hand. They both walked outside into the cool night air. Lois looked up at the beautiful country sky. She turned back and faced Clark.

"Are you ready?" he asked in a deep voice.

Lois nodded as she stepped closer to Clark. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his hands on her waist. She waited for him to look up and shoot up high into the night sky, but his eyes never left hers. "Okay, Smallville. When are we going to move?"

"We already are." Clark told her calmly.

Lois looked at him puzzled and she took a look down. They were already twenty feet up in the sky. Lois freaked out a little and she tightly clung to Clark. Clark squeezed her, letting her know that he had her and wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Lois looked back into his face. A curl was falling down his forehead. Lois couldn't fathom how she ended up with a man like Clark. He was so good and honest, all the things she wasn't. She didn't deserve him. "How did I get so lucky?" Lois whispered.

Clark smiled. "I ask myself the same thing every time I wake up in the morning and I see your face, whenever you're hugging Caleb, or laughing with Love, or when you're talking with Evelyn. Whenever I see you at work concentrating so hard on a story, when Perry yells at you and you look at me with a mischievous smile that says you did something bad. Every moment that you are alive and breathing, I ask myself 'how did I end up with Lois Lane? Loud, annoying, rude, sarcastic Lois Lane.'"

Lois smiled at the words he spoke. "And those are my good qualities." she said with a smirk.

Clark smiled back. "You are so unbelievable."

"And you are crazy."

"For you."

Lois looked around. They were high up in the sky. The bright lights of Metropolis looked like a strand of Christmas lights. Smallville was barely a speck on the landscape. Lois leaned her head against Clark's chest. "It's so beautiful up here."

"But nothing could be as beautiful as my wife."

Lois laughed. "You have some brown stuff on your nose."

Clark chuckled, but he didn't say any smart reply back.

Lois shivered slightly in the silence.

"Are you cold?"

"A little." Lois confessed.

Clark wrapped his cape around her and rubbed his hands over her arms, never once letting go.

"I guess the cape comes in handy." Lois said.

"It helps with the flying."

Lois still couldn't believe it. Her and Clark were floating in mid-air right now with nothing holding them up except for Clark's powers. Lois sighed longingly.

"You ready to go home?" Clark asked.

Lois nodded and Clark started flying at a casual speed, letting Lois enjoy every moment.

* * *

Love felt someone nudging her. "Love? Love, wake up." she could hear someone pleading with her.

Love groaned. "Go away." she wasn't ready to wake up yet.

"But Love! You have to wake up!" this time she was pushed off the bed.

Love sat up on the floor and looked up. Caleb was there and he looked really scared. She stood up. "Caleb, what's wrong?"

"I can't find Mommy and Daddy."

"Caleb, they probably went out somewhere."

"And there's someone in the house."

Love paused. "What?"

"I woke up and I was going to go downstairs to get some water when I heard some people talking. They were in the kitchen and they were going through all of our drawers and making a big mess.

They could hear Evelyn groan as she sat up on her bed. "What's going on?" she asked, still half asleep.

"Evelyn, you have to be extra quiet." Love told her.

Evelyn was confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Caleb says there someone in the house and I can hear them too."

Evelyn woke up. "There's someone in the house?"

"Yeah, and Caleb says Mom and Dad aren't home." Love stood up and handed Caleb to Evelyn. "Watch Caleb, I'm going to check it out."

"Love, please be careful."

"Don't worry." Love said as she walked out of the room and closed the door.

Caleb squirmed around for a few seconds before asking what was on his mind. "Do you want to go help Love?"

Evelyn smiled. "All right. Let's go." Evelyn took Caleb's hand and led him out of their room.

"Who are you and what do you want?!" they heard Love demand from the men in their house.

Their were four men intruding their home. They all had black clothing on and ski masks that hid their identity. They each held up a gun and pointed it to Love. "Where's Lois Lane?" one of them asked.

"Get out of our house before I call the police!" Love didn't answer their question.

"We got to go down and help Love!" Caleb said a little too loudly.

One of the guys looked up and saw Evelyn and Caleb. "Hey! You two! Get down here!"

Evelyn froze. Flashes of that night in Lex's mansion popped up in her mind. She didn't want to have to go through something like that again. "No." Evelyn told him.

The guy that had spoken started walking up the stairs, his gun trained on them. The other three stayed down stairs with their guns pointed at Love. "I said get down there." he said in their faces.

Caleb's face was turned up in a scowl. "Leave us alone!" he yelled at him.

The man didn't like the way Caleb was yelling. He raised the butt of his gun towards Caleb and brought it down hard on his head.

"Caleb!" Love screamed.

Caleb was still standing, but he was looking a little woozy. He sat down and held his head. A large bump was starting to appear on his head. Caleb put his hand on his head and began crying.

Evelyn looked back to the masked man. She yelled out in rage as she jumped on his back and began punching and hitting him.

The men at the bottom put their attention on Love. "What are you going to do little girl?" they taunted.

Love smirked just like Lois would've. She took a deep breath of air and yelled as loud as she could. "Superman!!"

* * *

Clark held Lois tightly as they flew over a small secluded pond. Lois stretched out her finger and it touched the water as they passed. She smiled, never having experienced that feeling. "It's about time you learned something cool Smallville."

"What are you talking about?" Clark asked as they continued flying with Clark's cape billowing behind them.

"All of your other powers are cool, but I can never really experience them with you. But flying…it's a completely different story."

Clark smiled. "Well, it really does…" Clark trailed off.

Lois looked up at him and wondered why he had stopped. She saw that look on his face and knew that he heard an emergency. "Who need saving this time?"

"Our kids." Clark said.

"What?!"

"Hang on tight." Clark said as he reverted into Superman mode. He made sure Lois was secure in his arms before he used his super sped. Clark reached the house in less than three seconds, but went into the barn first. He set Lois down in the loft. He took off before she could protest. She didn't need to get involved in whatever was going on.

* * *

The men looked at Love as if she was crazy. "Do you really think that's going to work?" the main guy asked.

Love waited for a few seconds. Clark should've stormed through the door already. She looked up and saw Evelyn still struggling with the other man. Lois and Clark had told her so many times to not use her powers in front of anyone who didn't already know the big Kent secret, but it seemed like she had no choice.

As Love was about to grab their guns using her super sped, the back door swung open and Superman stood there.

The men at the bottom all looked at Superman stunned. The man at top of the stairs yelled at them. "Shoot him you idiots!"

They pointed their guns at him and began firing non-stop. Superman just stood there, unmoving and looking at them with a burning anger in his eyes. They ran out of bullets and looked at each other, not knowing what to do. "If I were you, I'd start running." Superman told them in a cold voice.

They followed his advice and ran through the front door.

"Where are you going?!" the guy at the top yelled out. Evelyn was still on his back and hitting him as hard as she could. He was trying to grab her and get her off his back.

Superman floated up to them and grabbed Evelyn off of his back. She was still clawing and kicking, trying to get back at him for knocking out Caleb. "I'd follow your friends if I were you."

His eyes went wide and he took off running just like his friends. Clark set Evelyn down and Evelyn spun around and faced him. "Where the heck were you?!" she yelled at him.

"Evelyn, calm down."

"You want me to calm down! Look what they did to Caleb!!" Evelyn continued yelling. Evelyn started breathing hard. She sat down and leaned against the wall as she tried to regulate her breathing again.

"Clark!! What were you thinking when you dropped me off in the barn!!" Lois yelled as she came inside the house. She was definitely pissed off.

Clark turned around and looked at her. "I knew that you were going to try and do something that could've gotten you hurt!"

"That was not a good reason to leave me behind like that!"

"Hello! What are we going to do about Caleb!" Love yelled at them.

Lois started listening and heard Caleb crying. She ran up the stairs and pulled him into her arms.

"My…head…hurts!" Caleb choked out between sobs.

"Oh honey, it's going to be fine. Shh…stop crying." Lois started rocking him back and forth, not knowing how to ease his pain.

"But it hurts!!" he insisted. It hurt Lois also to see Caleb in so much pain.

Clark bent down with a bag of frozen peas in his hands. "Here, put this on." Clark said as he handed it to Lois.

Lois grabbed the bag and pressed it against Caleb's forehead. He howled loudly in pain. Lois cringed, knowing that the bag was making him hurt, but it was the only thing she could do. In the long run, the frozen bag would help him more.

Clark stood up and went towards the door. "Where are you going?" Lois called out after him.

"I'm going to take care of those men." Clark said before he flew out the door.

Lois sighed as she was left with the kids. She picked up Caleb and looked to the girls. "Go ahead and go to bed." she told them. She walked downstairs and went into the kitchen.

Love watched them until Lois had Caleb sit down on kitchen counter. She spun around and faced Evelyn. "I told you to stay in the room and watch Caleb!" she hissed.

Evelyn stood up. "Well excuse me if I was worried about you, and Caleb was too."

"You knew perfectly well that I can take care of myself."

"But can you do it without showing off your powers?"

Love narrowed her eyes. "Because of you, Caleb's hurt."

Evelyn clenched her teeth. She refused to show her hurt. She knew Love was just upset and she was trying to find someone to blame, but that didn't stop Evelyn from lashing out. "Sorry I hurt _your_ brother." Evelyn didn't wait for Love to say anything. She turned around and walked back into their room. She made sure the lights were off and she crawled back into bed.

Love came in a minute later, stunned from what Evelyn had told her. Evelyn could hear her climb into bed, but she didn't say anything. They were both very mad at each other right now.

* * *

Caleb's crying had been reduced to sniffling and a few tears here and there. Lois had put some cream on his bump to try and reduce the swelling. It was huge and it was turning different shades of blue and purple. It looked like it might even give him a black eye. "Are you feeling better?" Lois asked Caleb with his face cupped in her hands.

Caleb wiped his eyes and nodded. "My head hurts only a little bit."

"I'll give you some medicine for that." Lois assured, but she didn't know what she should give him. Should she just give him some ibuprofen or would it have to be something stronger? She could really use some of Clark's help right now.

Just as she wished his presence was there, he came back inside the house, this time dressed as regular Clark Kent. He smiled at her meekly, not knowing what kind of mood she was in. When he had left her, she had been yelling at him. "Hey guy. How're you doing?"

Caleb smiled. "I yelled at the bad guy!" he proudly told him.

Clark smiled. "That's great, but next time, you need to leave that to me."

"But you weren't here." Caleb said as he began frowning. "Where did you and Mommy go?"

Clark looked at Lois. She told him with her eyes that this was something that he was going to explain. "We went out on a little…date."

"Okay." the explanation was enough for Caleb.

"Come on, let's get you back into bed." Lois said as she picked him up.

"I want Daddy to put me in bed." Caleb told her.

Clark smiled as he took Caleb from Lois' arms. "I've got him." he told her.

Lois nodded her appreciation and Clark carried him upstairs to his room. Lois looked around the destroyed kitchen. Papers were everywhere, silverware was scattered on the floor, broken dishes littered the counters. This was going to take a while to pick up.

Lois started picking up the papers, but stopped when she remembered something. Her briefcase had been in the dinning room. They could've gone in there and grabbed something from her. She went to grab her briefcase and opened it. She looked through the files and all her folders. Miraculously, everything was accounted for. It seemed like nothing had been stolen.

Clark started walking down stairs. He was rubbing his messy hair. "Hey," he told Lois, letting her know he was there.

"I'm really mad at you right now."

Clark nodded and he crossed his arms over his chest. It looked like he had a bone to pick with her. He didn't seem to mind she was mad at him. "When I dropped those men off at the police station, I waited around for a little bit to see what they were after. One of them finally squealed. They were after you Lois. They were going to try and kill you because of some article you wrote!"

Lois grimaced. This wasn't the first time this had happened. It was about the sixth or seventh time, but she wasn't going to let Clark in on that. "It's a good thing you showed up then." Lois said, hoping a comment like that might ease Clark a little.

"Lois, how many times has this happened to you!?"

"I don't know…"

"Because when I was talking with Perry he was telling me this has happened more than ten times!"

"Hey, that's not true! It's only been like six or seven times." Lois clarified. When she saw Clark's expression, she regretted her words.

"You are a mom, Lois. You have responsibilities to those kids and it includes not getting kidnapped every other week!"

"Oh yeah? What about you? You're Superman now. Once you become a hero, psycho power freaks start coming out and you could get seriously hurt!"

"Lois, that's completely different."

"Why Clark? Cause I'm human and you're not?" Clark didn't say anything. Lois stopped her mouth from saying any more. They had both said enough. Lois looked down at the clothes she was wearing. She was still in Clark's flannel and boxers. How did this night start off so perfectly, then go crashing down? She put down some of the papers she was holding. "I'm going to bed." she started walking, but she felt Clark's hand grab her arm.

"Lois wait." he said as he pulled her back.

Lois turned around and waited for him to speak. "I'm really sorry about what I said. I was just worried about you Lois. I know that you can take care of yourself, but that still doesn't stop me from worrying about you."

Lois smiled at Clark's honesty. "I know Smallville, and call me crazy, but that's why I love you. Because of your ability to be so concerned for your family and friends…even if they don't like it."

Clark smiled as he pulled her into his arms. "So…isn't there a bale of hay waiting for us?"

Lois chuckled. Clark may be the most sweetest guy out there, but he was still a typical male. "I think the mood's been killed."

Clark groaned, not liking what her answer was.

Lois leaned up and began whispering in his ear. "How about we make a deal? You pick this mess up here and if you finish before I reach the bed…you can do whatever you want."

Clark's teeth showed off as he let go of Lois. "Sounds like a great idea."

Lois didn't wait for him to say anything else. She began running up the stairs, racing to her bedroom. Clark zoomed around the kitchen and in a few seconds it was clean. He stopped a moment to survey his handy-work, but then he remembered Lois. He ran up to their bedroom and caught Lois in his arms before she hit the bed. "You're all mine now." he whispered in her ear.

* * *

a/n: it feels so long since i updated! i hope i haven't kept you people waiting too long. but i hope this chapter makes it up. i included a lot of clois which was really fun to write! reviews are always appreciated. until next chapter my friends!


	8. Rumors

Rumors

Clark was at the kitchen stove making breakfast for everyone. Love was finishing up last minute homework, Lois was sitting next to her writing up an article, and Evelyn was still upstairs getting ready. Caleb was still in his pajamas watching TV. Clark and Lois both agreed he could skip school today. His swelling had gone down noticeably, but his head was still hurting. He wouldn't be able to function properly in school. He might even have to take the whole week off. He had taken a pretty hard blow.

Lois closed her laptop and smelled the air. "Wow, Smallville. That smells amazing!" she said as she got up to see what Clark was cooking.

"Thank you. I learned it from my mom."

"Let's see if you can cook as good as she can." Lois said with a challenging smirk.

"At least it'll be better than your cooking." Clark shot back playfully.

Lois stuck her tongue at him childishly and Clark just laughed. "So why isn't Evelyn down yet?" she asked Love.

Love didn't look up, but shrugged her shoulders.

"But you were just up there."

"I don't know, Mom." Love said annoyed. "I don't know why Evelyn does the things she does." she mumbled later.

Clark caught what she said. "What's going on between you and Evelyn?" he asked as he slid a plate of eggs with homemade hash browns in front of her.

"Nothing is going on. Why would you even think that?" Love said as she stabbed at the hash browns.

"Well for one thing, you're taking it out on those hash browns." Lois said as she put down two plates; one for Caleb and another for Evelyn.

Evelyn came down the stairs. She stopped in the living room first to see how Caleb was. She walked into the kitchen and sat down. "Good morning." she said, but it seemed like she didn't really believe it.

"Hey, bud." Clark said as he leaned in to kiss her head. Evelyn ducked though and avoided him. Clark frowned, not knowing what that was about.

Lois could tell that Evelyn and Love were in an argument right now just from the tension she could feel between them.

Evelyn picked up her fork and picked at the food, moving it around, but not really picking any up and eating it.

"Caleb, come and eat." Clark told him.

Caleb got up and walked to the kitchen he climbed up onto a stool and started eating what was put in front of him.

"How are you doing Caleb?" Love asked as she ruffled his messy hair.

"Okay." Caleb said with his mouth half full. "But did you see what Evelyn did last night?!"

Love looked at Evelyn with a menacing look that didn't go by unnoticed by Clark and Lois. She looked back at Caleb. "What'd she do?"

"She saved me from the bad guy! When he hit me she jumped up on him and started hitting him!" Caleb thought it was necessary to show how she was hitting me. He started throwing punches to invisible enemies.

Love turned back to her food. "You wouldn't have needed saving if it wasn't for her." she mumbled.

Clark picked that up. "What are you talking about?"

Love looked up. She had forgotten that she wasn't the only one in the house with super hearing now. "Nothing."

"What did she say?" Lois asked Clark.

"That Caleb wouldn't-"

"There's Mrs. Wilkinson." Evelyn said as she got up from her stool and left her uneaten food on the plate. "See you later." she told them as she grabbed her back pack and walked out the door.

Love grabbed her back pack too and stopped to hug Clark, Lois, and Caleb. "Bye!" she walked out before they could tell her anything.

Lois sighed. "They're upset with each other, I just can't figure out why."

"Don't worry. I think they'll resolve it on their own." he said as he grabbed Lois' and his empty plates. Caleb was still trying to finish his.

"Hurry up and eat so we can go to the Planet." Clark told him.

"Am I going with you?" he asked.

"You sure are, guy." Lois said as she gave him a peck on the check. She went upstairs real quick to pick out an outfit for him to change into.

Caleb put the last forkful into his mouth and put the plate in the sink. He sat back down and started talking with Clark who was gathering some things. "I like going to work with you and Mommy."

"Really?" Clark said trying to sound interested.

"Yeah. I get to see Uncle Jimmy, the Chief-"

"Wait, who's 'the Chief?'"

"Perry. Mommy always calls him Chief." Caleb explained.

Clark nodded and Caleb continued talking. "And I also get to see Richard."

Clark froze. Caleb knew who Richard was? "What do you think about Richard?" Clark needed to know what he thought of Richard.

"I really like him a lot! He's really nice and he came to my play last year in preschool!" Caleb told him happily. He didn't realize that this was crushing Clark. "And he always gives Mommy flowers and chocolates, but I don't know why…"

"Caleb! Come up here so you can change!" Lois yelled from the top of the stairs.

Caleb jumped off the stool leaving Clark alone in the kitchen with his confusion.

* * *

Evelyn walked in the school first and a few seconds later, she was followed by Josh and Love. The entire car ride had been silent. Even Mrs. Wilkinson turned up the volume and she never has the music on.

"Hey, what's wrong with you and Evelyn?" Josh asked Love.

"Nothing is wrong with us." Love replied a little coldly.

They rounded a corner and lost sight of Evelyn. "Come on, Love. You can tell me."

"No, Josh."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Fine, you can be a stubborn mule if you want to, but I know that I could probably get it out of Evelyn." Josh declared as he started walking away.

"What? If you can't drag it out of me, then you most certainly won't be able to get it from Evelyn."

"I don't know what it is about me, but Evelyn tells me everything." Josh stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Maybe it's my dashing good looks."

Not a beat passed before some senior jock had knocked Josh over and sent his books and papers scattering everywhere. Josh fell down, but stood up right away. "I'm okay! Nobody worry about me!" he yelled to all the students in the hallway.

Everyone looked at him like he was an idiot. Josh bent down and began gathering his things. Love walked up to him and helped him with some of the stuff. "Josh Wilkinson, you are the craziest person I have ever meet."

"And I take great pride in hearing that from you, Love." Josh said with a charming smile.

Love rolled her eyes and stood up. "I'll talk to you later."

"We most certainly will, once I find out what happened from Evelyn."

"Whatever." Love said as she started walking away. Love had saw something in Josh's eyes when he mentioned Evelyn. She knew exactly what it was. Josh had a crush on Evelyn. It might even be something more, but Love couldn't tell if it was or not.

* * *

Evelyn slammed her locker door shut. She grabbed her lock and put it on. Not only was she still very mad with Love, but practically everyone in the school was staring at her. She had no idea why, but if someone knew it would be Ella.

Evelyn walked down the hallway and headed towards Ella's locker. She was there and was getting some books out. "Ella, wait." Evelyn called out.

Ella looked up and closed her locker. "Hey Evelyn."

Evelyn smiled. "Hey. You're always up to date with the latest gossip, right?"

"Yeah…" Ella had no idea where Evelyn was going with this.

"Okay, so I was wondering if you knew why everyone's looking at me and whispering behind my back."

Ella paused. She really didn't want to tell Evelyn what people were saying about her. "They're not doing that…" her sentence came out awkwardly.

"Ella, I know we haven't been the greatest of friends lately, but please, you have to tell me." Evelyn pleaded.

Ella frowned. She didn't want Evelyn to get hurt by the rumors that were going around, but she was going to find out either way. Ella grabbed her arm and led her to a corner that seemed empty. "People have been noticing that you look sick." Ella whispered.

"Okay…so why are they looking at me weird?" Evelyn whispered back.

"Someone came up with a reason for it." Ella looked around. The hallways were starting to empty, but the bell still hadn't rung yet. There was still time to tell her. "They say it's because you're…pregnant."

Evelyn's jaw went slack. She couldn't believe it. Sure this was high school, but did it really give people and excuse to come up with lies like this? "What?!" Evelyn yelled.

"Shh!" Ella said while looking around to be sure no one was starting to pay attention. "I'm just telling you what everyone else is saying."

Evelyn's face grimaced in pain as her chest was starting to hurt. She leaned her back against the wall and tried to breath normally.

"Whoa, Evelyn, are you all right."

"I'm…fine." Just saying those two words took up a lot of effort for her.

"We need to get you to the nurse."

"No, Ella. I'm fine." Evelyn said as she began carrying her own weight again.

"Evelyn, are you sure you're not…" Ella hoped that Evelyn would catch her flow.

Evelyn looked at her in disbelief. She caught her flow all right. "Ella, how could you even think that?!"

"It's just that you've been pretty emotional lately and you have been looking pretty sick…I'm just really worried about you, Evelyn." Ella said with sincere concern.

The bell rang and students still in the hallway scurried to their classes. "I don't need your worry." Evelyn told Ella rather coldly. Without another look back, Evelyn walked to her class.

Ella sighed. She hadn't mean for Evelyn to get offended. At least she didn't tell her who they claimed the father was.

* * *

Lois, Clark, and Caleb walked off the elevator and into the bull pen. Caleb was saying hello to everyone they passed while Lois and Clark were talking in quiet voices.

"So who's going to watch him when one of us has to go away?" Clark asked. "I'm going to have to make quick get aways during the day and I know for a fact that you're going to leave sooner or later to chase down a lead."

"We'll just leave him with Jimmy or Perry." Lois said easily.

"At least promise me that you'll be careful today."

"Hmm, I can't really make any promises there, Smallville."

They got to their desks and started setting their work up.

"Look Mommy! Someone gave you a box of chocolates!" Caleb exclaimed. He hoped that he was going to be able to have one.

Clark frowned as he saw the box. It was in a red box with a white ribbon on top. There was also a card attached to it. "Who's that from?" he asked as reached out to grab the box.

Lois picked it up before Clark could reach it. "Uh, no one. It's probably from Chloe or Jimmy."

"Why would they give you chocolates?" Clark was getting suspicious.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask them?" Lois said as she threw the box of chocolates in a drawer.

"Aren't you going to read the card? Make sure it actually is from Chloe or Jimmy?"

"Um, no. I'll read it later." Lois said as she sat down and tried her best to blow it off. She really wanted Clark to stop talking about it. Maybe some emergency could come up and he would leave. When he would come back, he'd forget all about it.

"Can I go see the Chief?" Caleb asked. He didn't feel the tension in the air that was passing in between his parents.

"Yeah, go ahead." Lois said as she avoided looking at Clark.

Caleb smiled as he started walking to Perry's office.

Clark really didn't want to argue with Lois right now, but he was concerned. He had already met Richard and from the first moment, Clark could tell that he was bad news. From what Caleb had told him about Richard, he was getting real close to his family. Clark didn't know exactly how close Richard had been getting, but something must've had to have happened.

"Lane!! Kent!! My office NOW!!" Perry yelled at them.

Lois couldn't keep that smirk off of her face. For some reason, she found it amusing whenever she was 'in trouble' with Perry. This time was no exception.

Clark followed Lois into the Perry's office. Caleb was sitting in Perry's chair behind his desk playing on his computer.

Perry leaned against his desk with his arms crossed. "Have a seat."

Clark took a seat, but Lois stayed standing. "Um…Lo-Lois, I think that you should listen." Clark said as he pushed his over-sized glasses up.

Lois gave him a pointed look then turned back to Perry. "I'm fine, thanks."

Perry scowled. Lois really enjoyed getting on his nerves. "Who wants to tell me why Caleb has a huge bruise on his head?"

Clark and Lois looked at each other and looked back to Perry. "There was a um…a disturbance…at our home." Clark said.

Perry looked at Clark. "Let me guess…Someone wanted to get back at Lois for some article that she wrote."

Clark turned his head to Lois. "You're absolutely right, Chief." he said, not looking away from Lois.

Lois looked at Clark. It looked like she was holding her tongue back from breaking free from her shut lips.

"Lois, I swear, you're the one who makes me regret going sober." Perry exclaimed as he rubbed his face.

"Chief, I'm sorry if what I write makes people upset, but that's what I do best!"

"Mommy, why do write stuff that people don't like?" Caleb asked from behind the desk. He was still focused on the computer screen, but was listening to every word they were exchanging.

"Why don't you go hang out with Uncle Jimmy for a bit?" Clark told him.

"Aw, but I'm playing a game!"

"Caleb…do it." Clark said more sternly.

"All right…" he muttered as he got off and started dragging his feet to the door.

They didn't start talking until Caleb had shut the door. "Are the girls fine?" Perry asked.

"Yeah, Evelyn's just a little shaken up." Lois said.

"Clark, I want you to watch this woman. Make sure that she doesn't get herself into anymore trouble."

"You have no idea how long I've been doing that and yet she still somehow manages to get into trouble."

Perry and Clark continued staring down Lois. "All right, so maybe I wasn't supposed to find out a bunch of the stuff that I put into one of those articles, but the public has a right to know!" Lois looked at Clark and Perry. They were trying to guilt-trip her. Lois put her hand behind her back and crossed her fingers. "Okay, I won't get into any more trouble." she said, trying to sound defeated.

Clark looked at her odd. He knew that she wouldn't give up so easily, but maybe it's because she finally realized how much people worry about her.

Perry huffed. "Get out of here." he said as he started walking back to his desk.

Lois tried to suppress her giggles. She just enjoyed seeing Perry so flustered. Clark walked out of the room, but Lois lingered a little longer. Perry looked up from his computer. "What do you want?" he growled at her.

"I have your Superman interview." she said proudly.

Perry's eyes widen. "How did you find him?"

"He was the one that came to our rescue last night. I was able to make him stop for a while and do the interview." the lie came out surprisingly easy for Lois.

"Where is it?"

"I e-mailed it to you."

Perry immediately went straight to his e-mail.

Lois waited around for a few more moments. "So do I get a raise?" she asked jokingly.

Perry narrowed his eyes at her. "Maybe. If I feel like it." Perry scanned it quickly. "I like it. We'll run it right now in a special issue."

Lois smiled graciously. "Great." she walked towards Clark who was talking with Jimmy. "Hey Jimmy. How are you this morning?"

"I'm doing great Lois. Thanks."

"Lois, Jimmy says that Caleb never came to his desk." Clark said in a quiet, urgent voice.

Lois spun around. "What? But he has to be here somewhere." her eyes scanned the newsroom for any sign of him.

"I didn't find him. I don't know where he could be." Clark said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Have you asked Richard?" Jimmy asked.

"What?" both Lois and Clark said simultaneously.

"Well I mean Caleb really likes him. Maybe since he didn't see me here, he went to go look for Richard." Jimmy tried explaining. He understood what had been going on between him and Lois. He just didn't know if Clark had been told yet.

"I'll go check." Lois said as she walked away.

"Lois, wait. I'll go with you." Clark said as he caught up with her.

"Smallville, I've got this."

"Lois, just let me come."

Lois didn't really like the idea, mainly because she'd probably end up having to introduce them to each other. She knew that it was going to get awkward fast.

Lois led the way as she walked down a hallway and knocked on an office that had the big black letters 'Richard White.'

The door opened and Richard had an annoying smirk on his face. His smirk just made Lois want to slap him for no apparent reason.

"Lois! It's so good to see you!" Richard said as he tried to give her a hug.

Lois side-stepped him and avoided the hug. Clark noticed and straightened his hunched posture and stood closer to Lois.

Richard looked up and saw Clark. "Clark, it's good to see you again too. I didn't know if after our last meeting you'd want to see me again." Richard said curtly.

"Wait, you two have met already?" Lois asked feeling out of the loop.

"Yeah. We got to know each other on an elevator ride. Isn't that right Clark?" Richard said as he softly punched Clark on his arm.

"Where's Caleb?" Clark asked, not wanting to deal with Richard's arrogance.

"I'm here Daddy!" Caleb called out from in the room.

Lois pushed the door open all the way and saw Caleb sitting at Richard's desk with a piece of paper and crayon's. "Caleb! What are you doing here!? We told you to go with Uncle Jimmy!" Lois said as she grabbed him.

"But I didn't see Uncle Jimmy. Richard said that I could come with him to his office and see what he does." Caleb whined.

Lois handed Caleb to Clark who picked him up. "Caleb, you need to let us know where you are at _all_ times. It's very dangerous to be wandering alone."

"Yes ma'am." he pouted.

"Come on, let's go to my desk." Clark said as he took Caleb from Lois' arms.

"But I wanna stay here with Richard in his office." Caleb whined.

Lois saw Clark becoming upset, but trying his best to hide it.

"I can watch him for you." Richard said, speaking more to Lois.

"That's fine Richard. I can handle him." Clark said

"Do you have crayon's?" Richard asked as he crossed his arms and quirked an eyebrow.

"My daddy doesn't have anything fun at his desk." Caleb said innocently. He didn't realize he was just adding kindling to the fire.

Clark clenched his jaws. The only thing that was keeping Clark from throwing Richard into the depths of outer space was holding Caleb in his arms. "We can go to the candy store and you can get as much candy as you want." Clark said as he bounced Caleb once in his arms.

"I'll take you to the toy store and I'll get you whatever you want." Richard threw in.

"I'll take you to the park." Clark countered.

"I'll take you flying!"

"You don't know how to fly!" Clark yelled.

"Yes I do! I own my a sea plane!" Richard yelled back.

"I'll take you flying, but _not_ in a sea plane." Clark referred to his flying ability.

"Enough!" Lois yelled at the two men.

They both turned and looked at Lois. They had forgotten Lois was standing there.

"This is not a competition! Richard, Caleb is _our_ son and he is coming with me and Clark. Come on, Caleb."

"Okay." Caleb squirmed his way out of Clark's arms and grabbed Lois' hand. "My head hurts."

"I'll give you some ibuprofen." Lois assured him.

"I have some Tylenol." Richard said.

Lois threw him an ugly look and he shut his mouth. Lois looked at Clark and saw him clenching his fists. His knuckles were turning white. She put her hand on his arm. "Clark, we're leaving."

Clark looked down at her hand and unclenched his fists. "All right." he said as he followed Lois out. He looked back once at Richard and he saw him starring at Lois' butt. He looked up straight into Clark's eyes. Clark could see the hunger in them. "I'll be seeing you later, Kent."

"You can count on it." Clark stepped out of the office and closed the door. Clark watched Lois walking with Caleb. He could sort of understand why Richard was watching Lois' butt. He didn't appreciate it, though. No one was allowed to look at it except for him.

Clark knew that Richard wanted his wife.

* * *

Evelyn skipped the lunch line and grabbed a juice. She walked to a table and sat down. The kids that would pass her would start whispering and snicker. Evelyn tried her best to ignore them, but it was so hard.

"Evelyn! What's up?" Josh asked as he took a seat next to Evelyn. He bumped her playfully in the shoulder and bumped his back. Ella and Love sat down across from them.

"Hey guys." Evelyn said to Josh and Ella. "Love." she said coldly.

Love rolled her eyes as Ella and Josh looked at them. "Uh, what's going on?" Ella asked.

"Nothing." they both replied.

Evelyn didn't want to be mad at Love anymore, but she couldn't help it. She had a lot of pride in her and wouldn't admit defeat.

"So…what's going on between you and Love? Why are you acting like typical females?" Josh asked Evelyn.

"Josh!" Ella exclaimed.

"What? They are! Do you know how long a female can hold a grudge? A really long time. I want them to make up and be friends…or sisters…whichever one they consider themselves." Josh spoke about them as if they weren't there. He turned back to Love and Evelyn. "So what's wrong?"

"It's not something we'd like to share." Love said as she poked at her food on the tray.

Josh frowned. "Oh come on."

Ella kicked Josh under the table. "Ow! Ells! That hurt!" he started rubbing his leg.

Love giggled while Evelyn tried not to spit out her drink.

"Hey everyone! We've got an announcement to make!"

Everyone looked and saw Meredith standing on top of a table with Brittany, her latest lackey.

"Hey, what's going?" Josh asked as he slurped some milk.

"We would like for everyone to congratulate two students here at Smallville High. Pretty soon, they're going to be proud parents." Meredith continued yelling out for everyone to hear.

Evelyn felt her cheeks burning. Meredith wouldn't do that. She couldn't. Could she?

"Evelyn Kent and Josh Wilkinson are expecting!"

Everyone in the cafeteria either started clapping, yelling, or laughing.

Evelyn started breathing hard. Josh looked at her in shock then looked at everyone. Ella looked down ashamed while Love looked back and forth from Evelyn to Josh.

Evelyn's eyes filled with tears. She stood up with as much dignity as she could and stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Evelyn wait!" Josh called out. He stood up and was about to run after her. He stopped and looked to Love and Ella. He saw the look in Ella's eyes. "Did you know about this?" he asked her.

"I'm really sorry Josh. I tried telling people that it wasn't true, but they wouldn't believe me. You know how they are. Whatever Meredith says is always true!" Ella pleaded her case.

Josh tried to keep his anger down. How could she not tell them? He bit his tongue and ran out of the cafeteria. He had to find Evelyn.

* * *

Cat Grant watched Lois and Clark from the corner of her eye. They seemed tense and would hardly glance at each other. From what she heard from Jimmy, they were the perfect couple, even if they did have frequent arguments. But something must've blown the top because they were giving each other the cold shoulder.

Cat tapped her pencil on her desk as she started thinking. They weren't like that when they came out of Perry's office, but when they left Richard's, things had changed. Cat wondered if Richard was the reason why.

She had watched Richard and Lois ever since they meet. It seemed like they had some kind of chemistry going on, but of course Lois was already married. It didn't seem to make Richard not want her any less.

Cat leaned over her desk and tried to get Steve Lombard's attention. Steve looked up from his computer. His eyes lingered on Cat's cleavage, but they finally meet up with her eyes. "What?" he asked rudely.

"Have you noticed anything weird about Lois and Clark?" Cat whispered.

Steve looked in their direction. For a long time, he wished that Lois would actually look at him and like what she saw, but he understood that she was married so he didn't try and do anything the husband, Clark in this case, wouldn't like. Even if Clark seemed like a total geek, Steve had to give him props for landing a girl like Lois. "No, not really…" he didn't know what Cat was talking about.

Cat rolled her eyes. He was such a typical male. "Hello, they aren't being all lovey-dovey!"

"And? Maybe they had an argument. Practically every functional couple has an argument."

"They were fine when they left Perry's office, but after they saw Richard you could tell that something happened." Cat started thinking. "What if Lois had an affair with Richard and Clark figured it out!"

Steve started looking back at his files. "Get back to work, Cat. We don't need anymore or your rumors starting up again."

Cat sat back in her chair and started swerving it back and forth. She wondered if Gabby from the copy room knew anything...

* * *

Lex shook his glass in his hand causing the ice to swirl around in his whiskey. It was always nice to sit back and relax for a little bit. When you were planning to kill someone great, it always drained you of energy.

Lex leaned his head back against his chair. He was in one of the rooms at the warehouse. It wasn't the mansion back in Smallville or his loft in Metropolis, but it would have to do for now. Once he was finally "free" he could go anywhere in the world with no restrictions.

The door opened and Eddie came in holding a clipboard. Lex groaned, knowing his moment of peace had ended. "What do you want?"

"We've finished the frequency device." Eddie said.

"Has it been tested?"

"Yes. Only animals with high-frequency hearing can hear it."

"That means our kryptonian friend can hear it too." Lex said as he looked down at the newspaper. It was a special issue and Superman was on the cover page. The headline read, 'I Spent the Night with Superman. By Lois Lane.'

Lex folded it up and handed it to Eddie. "Burn it."

* * *

a/n: i've actually finished this chapter like last week, but i got lazy and didn't feel like reading it over again several times and all that stuff. i finally did though! hope you people like it! remember to review, comment, criticize, whichever you want. i like going back and reading them, they make me smile! :D until next chapter!


	9. Letters

Letters

Josh walked around outside on the track field. He had been looking for Evelyn for an hour. She had already missed a class and was about to miss the last class. He looked under the bleachers, hoping that she might be there. He didn't find her.

Josh walked back inside and was now wandering the empty halls. He saw Evelyn standing in front of the trophy case staring at something inside. Josh ran to her and grabbed her. "Evelyn! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Evelyn looked at him. Her make-up had been smeared by her tears. Evelyn looked away and wiped her eyes. "Hey." she said in a quiet voice.

Josh stuck his hands in his pockets and looked in the trophy case at the picture Evelyn was staring at. It was a picture of the football team of 2005. Clark was at the center of it, him being the star-quarterback for that year.

"My dad was the ideal student. Sure he was late a lot of times, but he was a good kid back in High School. Made great grades, was always saving someone from meteor freaks. Who would've thought that his adopted kid would be the one who was supposedly pregnant?"

"Wait…you are pregnant?" Josh asked. He felt his heart fall as if it was falling down the Grand Canyon.

"No, I'm not." Evelyn said firmly.

Josh sighed out relief. "I didn't think so."

Evelyn turned to Josh. "I'm really sorry that they said that about you."

Josh shrugged as he avoided looking at her. "It would've been an honor if you would chose me." Josh said honestly.

Evelyn smiled slightly. "I'm going to move, leave this town forever."

Josh looked at her. "But where would you go?"

"I've been doing some research on the Philippines, where I was born. I found the orphanage that I was at. They're still open. I could buy a ticket and fly over there."

"Would you have enough money for a round-trip?" Josh asked.

"No."

"So you're not going then?"

"No, Josh. I'm still going."

"But you just said that you didn't have enough for a round-trip."

"Exactly. I don't plan on coming back. It'll be a one-way trip."

Josh looked at Evelyn in shock. "You're going to run away to a country that you don't even know the language to?"

"I'm a Filipino. It would be like returning to a familiar place. It shouldn't be that hard to blend in."

"Evelyn, this isn't a good idea." "Oh, so you just want me to stay here then? Stay in the school where everyone thinks that I'm pregnant with your baby, the town where Lana and her boyfriend tried killing me and my family? You want me to stay in the family that is so dysfunctional that all our problems would make Dr. Phil want to quit?!"

"Evelyn, calm down."

"Calm down?! You have no idea what's been going on! You have no right to tell me to calm down!" Evelyn winced as her chest began throbbing every time she yelled. She leaned her back against the wall and slid down to the floor.

Josh got down on the floor and put his hand on her shoulder. "Evelyn, please tell me what's going on."

Evelyn looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She looked away and started talking in a softer voice. "Last night our house was broken into. My parents were out and it was just me, Love, and Caleb. Caleb came in and woke us up saying that there was someone in the house. Love got up and went down to see who it was and what they wanted. Caleb was so worried about her and so was I. We went out to make sure she was okay. One of the guys saw us and came up to us. He hit Caleb on the head and now he's got a gigantic bump on his head. My parents came back like a few minutes later and my…uh, Superman came in and took the guys out."

Josh's eyes widen. "You saw Superman!" Evelyn sighed. She knew Josh was going to react like that. "I'm leaving." she said as she got up.

Josh grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. "I mean…oh no! That's horrible!"

"Josh…"

"All right, I'll be serious. Is Caleb all right?" Josh thought a moment. "Wait, is that why you and Love are arguing?"

"Love thinks that it's my fault that Caleb got hurt in the first place."

"But it's not."

"Try telling that to her." Evelyn mumbled.

"There's something else, isn't there?"

"Guess there's no hiding it from you." she said quietly. "For about a year, I've been having this really sharp pain in my chest. Lately, it's been getting worse and sometimes I start having a hard time breathing."

"Have you told your parents?" "No. I'm trying to avoid going to hospitals at all costs." Josh remembered Evelyn telling him why she hated hospitals. "Are you taking some medicine for it or something?"

"I used to take some pain killers I found in the cabinet, but they stopped working around the time my dad came back home. Sometimes I feel like crying cause it hurts so much."

Josh frowned. He had knew Evelyn would hardly cry because of physical pain. "Maybe you _should_ tell your parents."

Evelyn frowned. "They've been pretty distant lately."

The school bell rang and students spilled out of the classrooms. Josh stood up and offered Evelyn a hand. She took and he helped her up.

"Thanks for listening Josh." Evelyn said as she wiped her face clean.

"No problem, but you need to talk with your parents and Love." Josh said in a fatherly tone.

Evelyn couldn't keep the smile off her face. Josh sounded so funny. "I'll think about it."

* * *

Love walked with Ella to their picnic table. It was the end of the school day and Evelyn nor Josh had been found.

"Where is she? Why didn't she come back to class?" Love asked as she scanned the crowds.

"Love, calm down. Evelyn's fine. I'm sure wherever she might be, Josh is with her."

"I know, but I just really need to see her." Love said as she took a seat.

Ella sat down next to her. "Don't worry. They'll probably be here any second."

Love nodded, thankful that Ella was trying to cheer her up. Love opened her spiral and started doodling. They waited for a few minutes until finally, Evelyn and Josh came around the corner. Ella poked her and Love stood up. She smiled, glad that she was finally able to see Love.

Josh saw them and smiled at them, but Evelyn was walking with her head down. Love was about to call out to them, but Meredith stood in front of Josh and Evelyn, blocking them from their path.

"What do you want Meredith?" Josh asked. He stepped in front of Evelyn, trying to protect her.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Move aside, Josh. I want to speak with Evelyn."

"She doesn't want to talk with trash right now."

"Move it now." Meredith said in a fierce tone.

"Josh…it's okay." Evelyn said as she stepped up. "What?" she asked Meredith.

"I want you to know that what happened in the lunchroom is only a taste of what will happen if you _ever_ embarrass me again."

"I never embarrassed you."

"When you ditched me at Kyle's party, that became the talk of the school. 'Not even the stupid Filipino girl wanted to hang out with Meredith.'"

Evelyn clenched her jaws. She hated it whenever people would make fun of her native country. "Shut your face!" she yelled in Meredith's face.

"Not until you learn _never _to cross Meredith Shaw!" Meredith yelled back.

Josh tried getting in between them. "Hey! Stop it already! Both of you!"

They completely ignored him. They kept on yelling at each other. Love started running towards them, but Meredith didn't wait for her. She slapped Evelyn.

Love ran faster and tackled Meredith to the ground. Everyone except for Evelyn took a step back and started chanting. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Love! Get off of her!" Evelyn yelled as she started pulling on Love's shoulder.

Love shrugged her off as she began punching Meredith, careful not to use too much strength. Meredith rolled over and was now on top of Love. She was the one delivering the blows. Love made sure to act as if each punch hurt.

Evelyn tired pulling Meredith off, but she elbowed her in the stomach. Evelyn lost her breath and stumbled to the floor gasping for breath.

"Evelyn!" Josh exclaimed as he ran to her side. "Breath in and out. Take deep breaths."

Love stopped when she heard Josh yelling. She saw Evelyn on the ground with Josh coaxing her. She pushed Meredith off of her and ran to Evelyn's side. "Evelyn, what's wrong?"

"I'm…fine." Evelyn gasped out. It sounded as if she was having an asthma attack, but Love never remembered Evelyn having asthma.

"Give her some room to breath." Josh told Love.

Love back away a few feet and waited. It was an excruciatingly long time, but it was only a few seconds.

Evelyn's breathing normalized and Josh helped Evelyn up. Evelyn looked at Love and gave her a reassuring look.

Love nodded her head and turned back to Meredith. "You do _not_ mess with _any_ of my friends!" she said with her finger in Meredith's face.

Meredith nursed her bruised cheek, but looked at Love with complete hatred. She was once again humiliated by one of those Kent girls. Meredith stood up with fake dignity and stared them down. She wasn't going to let them humiliate them again, so she was just going to leave them alone, probably make up some kind of lie that both Love and Evelyn finally submitted to her.

* * *

Lois was staring at Clark's empty chair. Sometime during the afternoon, he had left to "grab some coffee." He had been gone for two hours.

She rolled her eyes and looked back to the computer. She was looking up that file from LuthorCorp that she had been on last night. She had scanned through most of it and wrote down what she thought was important. On the last page, she found a link. It was to another file. Lois got curious and clicked on it. A screen showed up asking for a password. Lois groaned, hoping that her source remembered to put the password for this one. She grabbed the piece of paper he had given her. There was only one password and it was for the login.

Lois shrugged her shoulders as she typed it in anyways. There was always a chance. She pressed enter and surprisingly, the document opened. Lois started reading it. They were doing some kind of experiments with high frequency stuff. They were trying to develop a control that could send a message, like a phone call, through higher frequencies. Lois didn't understand why they would have it linked in the same file that was about some kind of new life project that they were doing. Something was wrong about all this and Lois knew that this was going to end up connecting someway or another.

"What are you doing?" Caleb asked as he came up behind Lois.

Lois immediately minimized the windows and looked at Caleb. "Nothing that concerns you."

Caleb sighed. He was bored out of his mind and his head was still hurting, but he didn't complain. "When are we going home?"

"When you're daddy comes back. We can't leave him."

Caleb groaned. It was already four and they were still at the Planet. "Can I go talk to Uncle Jimmy?"

"Sure, but remember to stay where I can see you."

"Yes ma'am." Caleb said as he started walking away.

Lois watched him to make sure he was going to stay with Jimmy. There was no telling what Caleb would do if he was left unsupervised.

Lois went back to her computer and opened the screen again. She grabbed a pencil and started chewing on the eraser. She was missing something. There was some kind of clue here…

Lois' phone beeped and it caused her to jump. She grabbed her phone to see the message. It was from Clark. 'Hey Lo. Got held up with some things. Won't be able to make it back to the Planet for a while. Go ahead and go home.'

Lois sighed as she read the message. She looked to the TV screen. They were showing a special news bulletin. Superman had been doing a whole bunch of saves throughout the entire day. They were also talking about the article Lois had written. Superman was becoming the latest celebrity. Lois smiled. She was proud of Clark.

She saved her work and made sure to back it up onto a flash drive. She turned off her computer and started gathering her things. She put on her coat and looked at Caleb talking with Jimmy. Jimmy was trying his best to pay attention, but Caleb was talking pure nonsense. Lois smirked. Jimmy always knew how to make kids believe he was listening.

Lois walked to Jimmy's desk. "Come on, Caleb. We're going home."

"But I thought that we were going to wait for Daddy?"

"Yeah, where is C.K., Lois? He's been gone for like two hours already." Jimmy asked.

"He just sent me a text. He said that he found a lead and was chasing it right now. He didn't know when he was going to come back, so he said not to wait up for him."

Jimmy nodded his head in understanding. "Guess I'll see you later then." Jimmy said as he ruffled Caleb's hair. "Take care of that head of yours."

Caleb grinned. "Yes sir!"

"See you tomorrow, Jimmy." Lois said as she grabbed Caleb's hand and started walking away.

* * *

Evelyn and Love walked inside the house. Clark, Lois, and Caleb weren't back yet. Evelyn sighed as she sat down on a stool.

Love pulled out two cups and filled them with water. She handed one to Evelyn and drank the other one.

Evelyn smiled gratefully. "Thanks Love."

Love nodded her head and continued drinking her drink.

"I'm sorry about last night." Evelyn said after a few silent moments.

Love knew they were going to have to talk about this. "I was really scared when I saw that Caleb could be hurt. I just thought that he was going to be like me and Dad; have invulnerability. I guess I freaked out. And I didn't want you to get hurt either."

Evelyn rolled her eyes. That was what Clark would definitely say. "I knew what I was doing Love. Besides, we were worried about you and wanted to make sure that you were all right."

"I guess…"

"So are we cool?" Evelyn asked with an air of hope.

Love gave her a half-smile. "Yeah."

Evelyn grabbed her cup and started drinking.

"Are you okay about the whole pregnancy thing at school?" Love asked uneasily.

Evelyn looked down. "Not really. I mean it's not true and everything, but why would they say Josh was the father? Why would they even say I'm pregnant?"

"Well, I can sort of understand the Josh angle."

Evelyn gave her a weird look. "Explain."

"To be honest, I think that he has a crush on you." Love declared.

Evelyn's jaw dropped. "What? Are you kidding me? Josh doesn't like me. Besides, he's really annoying and half the time we argue."

Love smirked. "That's how Mom and Dad were…"

"Shut up!" Evelyn said as she hit Love on her arm.

Love just laughed. "Whatever you say Evelyn."

Evelyn needed to change the topic before it got too personal. "Did you see if there was any mail in the mail box?"

Love knew what Evelyn was trying to do, but she went along anyways. "Yeah, I think so."

"Wanna run out there and get it?"

Love took off in a blur and appeared in front of her again. She held the mail in her hands and she sat down and started going through it. "Bills, bills, junk…what's this?"

Evelyn tried to look at what the mail said. "What is it?"

"You and Dad both got something from Kansas State Court."

Evelyn frowned. She snatched it out of her hands and opened the envelope. She read what it said. As she was reading, her hands started shaking. Her chest was starting to hurt and her breathing was becoming uneven.

"Evelyn? What is it?"

"It's…" Evelyn couldn't finish her sentence. It couldn't be true. What the letter said could _not_ be true.

"Evelyn! Lovely! We're home!" Lois yelled as she came in through the front door.

Love turned around to look at Lois and Caleb. Evelyn's eyes stay fixed on the letter. Caleb was climbing up the stairs to his room and Lois was walking towards them.

Lois noticed Evelyn's terrified expression. "Evelyn? What's wrong honey?"

Evelyn began hyperventilating. "It…it isn't…true…no…" she said between labored breaths.

Lois went over to her and tried calming her down. "Evelyn, calm down. Breath in, breath out. Nice and easy."

Evelyn listened to her soothing voice and was able to breathe easier, but the pain in her chest didn't subside.

"What's wrong?" Lois asked.

Evelyn gave Lois the letter. Lois scanned it and knew why Evelyn was freaking out. It was a notice that she was going to be called to witness in Lex Luthor's case. "Evelyn, it's going to be all right."

Evelyn didn't hear what Lois was saying. She remembered the meeting that she had with Lana, what Lana had told her. Evelyn had refused to believe it was true at first, but now she had confirmation. She was going to have to do what Lana had said. It was the only way to make sure Clark's secret wouldn't get out.

"What's going on?" Love asked. She was out of the loop and it felt lonely.

"When is it?" Evelyn asked in a quiet voice. She didn't acknowledge Love's question.

Lois looked down at the letter then back to Evelyn. "Next Monday."

Evelyn felt her chest hurt even more. She was going to have to lie in court. And knowing that Clark was going to be called up to witness also made her feel even worse.

* * *

Clark walked in the bull pen. It was late and he knew it. Half of the reporters were already home. Only a few of them were still left. It was seven in the evening.

Clark walked to his desk and took it off stand by. He was going to check his e-mail really quick to make sure that there weren't any notices he needed to know about. He clicked on his inbox. There was a new message there labeled Eversor. He recalled hearing that name in his training with Jor-el. It was destroyer in Latin. Clark opened it, but the message was only one sentence. 'The time for Eversor is coming.'

Clark had no idea what the message meant, but he was going to talk with Bruce about it. He was always up to date with the evil psychopaths and their diabolical plots.

* * *

Eddie looked in the room where the mass of a destroyed being laid. Instead of a shapeless heap, it was now laid out in the form of a body. It was healing itself. Lex was going to be happy. At least he hoped so.

He had heard stories about his last attempt to destroy this superhuman. Lex had failed and he was angry. He would go into rampages and that was part of the reason he was placed in Belle Reeve.

The doors opened and Lex strolled in. "Have you sent the e-mail?"

"Yes. He's already opened it."

"Good. Now what about the letter from the Kansas State Court?"

"It was delivered today."

"Project Eversor?"

"It's going smoothly." Eddie said indicating towards the window.

Lex looked in and smiled. "How much power will he have?"

"Ten times the amount he had before he was destroyed."

This was perfect. This time, he would actually be destroyed. And he was sure that no one in the Justice League would interfere and most importantly, Lois Lane-Kent would not interfere.

* * *

a/n: short chapter compared to all the other ones. sorry about that. just want to let you people know that major action is in store for the up coming chapters. don't know if it's going to be in the next chapter, but it's definitely coming real soon. read it, then leave your comments/reviews. have a great Easter too!


	10. Purchase

Purchase

Clark walked stepped up the steps that led to the large doors. He had called Lois, but she didn't pick up. He left a message and said that he was going to talk with Bruce for a bit and that he would be home as soon as he could.

He knocked on the door and waited a few moments. Alfred opened the door. "Master Clark, what a nice surprise." the aged butler said. "Please come in."

"Thank you, Alfred." Clark said as he stepped into the foyer. "Is Bruce home?"

"He just came back." Alfred said. "I'll tell him you're here."

"Thanks." Clark said as he started looking around. It always amazed him how beautiful it was here. He couldn't believe that Bruce was the only that lived here and it was so huge. Dick used to live here, but he moved out and was now living in his college dorm.

Clark sometimes wished that he had a nice home at least half this size. He remembered when Caleb was born. It was an amazing event and both he and Lois were so happy. But after they brought him home, they realized that when he was going to get older, he wasn't going to have a room. Love and Evelyn were already sharing a room and they couldn't keep Caleb in their room for ever. Clark told Jor-el that he was going to stay home for a few weeks so they could try and figure something out. Him and Lois sat down and started making plans to build another room. A week after perfecting the plans. Clark spent a day building it.

"Clark, I'm surprised you're here. With all the things you've been doing, I didn't think that you would have enough time to make any social visits." Bruce said as he walked down the stairs. He came up to Clark and shook his hand.

"Sorry, but this isn't a social visit."

"Ah, it's business then."

"Yeah."

"All right. We'll go into my office." Bruce said with a wink as he started walking back up the stairs. Clark followed him and they stopped in front of a grandfather clock. Bruce pushed it aside to reveal an elevator and both he and Clark stepped in. They took a small descent and the elevator doors opened to the Bat Cave. Clark had always been awe struck at the vastness of Bruce's hide out.

"So what's up?" Bruce asked as he took a seat at the table that was there.

Clark sat across from him and pulled out of his laptop. "Have you heard anything about a project called 'Eversor?'"

Bruce searched his head for a minute. "No, not that I know of." he got up and walked to his computers. He typed it in and nothing came up. "There's nothing on it in my files."

Clark opened the e-mail he had received. "I got an e-mail today about some project called Eversor." Clark turned the screen so Bruce could see it.

Bruce read over Clark's shoulder what the e-mail said. He frowned. "Isn't Eversor Latin for something?"

"It means Destroyer."

Bruce's frown increased. "Have you tried tracing the e-mail back?"

"Yes, but I keep coming up with dead ends." Clark said. He was getting really frustrated with the whole thing.

"I'll take a look at it and see what I come up with." Bruce said as he copied down the e-mail address. "Have you told Oliver? He might know something?"

"No, I don't need too many people knowing about this."

"So I'm assuming that you aren't planning on telling Lois."

"She doesn't need the stress." Clark said as he shut down the lap top once Bruce was done. "Bruce, there's something that I need to know."

Bruce put the paper with the e-mail on his desk. "What is it?"

"Have you met Richard White?"

Bruce thought a few minutes. "Yeah, I remember seeing him at one of Caleb's birthdays."

Clark knew it must've been one that he missed. "Did you notice anything…strange about him?"

"Are we talking serial killer strange?"

"No, not really. It's just that…how do I say this…"

"You think that he got close to Lois and he's tried to be more than friends." Bruce finished for him.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I was worried about that when I first met the guy. I warned Lois about it, but she insisted that they were just friends. And I believed her, but Richard may not have agreed with what she said."

Clark nodded. "Do you know if he's ever tried…" Clark didn't want to ask the question, but he needed to know. "Kissing her?"

Bruce looked up with a puzzled expression. "Shouldn't you be asking Lois about this? I mean, isn't that what married couples do? Work out their problems _together_?"

Clark sighed. "I know, it's just I wouldn't know how to ask her without making it an argument."

Bruce grinned, knowing how easily those two could start fighting, but they always made up a few minutes later. "Clark, any time either of you open your mouths, you start fighting, but then you make up. That's just the way you two are with each other."

"Bruce, seriously. This wouldn't be a little lover's spat. I think it would end up being a huge fight complete with yelling." Clark grimaced as he remembered a time when he would have fights like that every day. It was when he was still married to Lana.

"Clark, just tell her about this. Ask her when she's in a good mood. Butter her up a little."

"Since when have you been the one to give out relationship advice?"

"Where have you been? Don't you know that Bruce Wayne is the most eligible bachelor in Gotham? Every time I go out, it's always with two lovely women hanging on to my arms."

Clark chuckled. "You'll land someone eventually." he said as he got up.

"Nah, I don't think so. I think I'm going to end up growing old by myself."

"There's always someone out there, Bruce." Clark said with a smile. "I'll see you later. Tell me when you find something." he said as he walked to the elevator.

"All right. Say hi to the family for me." Bruce said just before the elevator doors slid shut. Bruce turned back to his computer. He was going to find this person soon. He was sure of it.

* * *

Lois sat at the dining table with Evelyn. Caleb was upstairs in his bed asleep and Love was in her room doing homework. Lois held the letter Evelyn and Clark had received in her hands.

"I'm not going to do it." Evelyn said as she sat back in her chair with her arms crossed.

"Evelyn, you have to do it. If you don't do it, then Lex could walk away as a free man." Lois said.

Evelyn knew in her head that even if she did go up there, Lex could still very well be free again. "I already had to do it once. I don't want to do it again. Can't they just skip me?"

"It's not that easy."

"Why not?! I don't want to do it! They're going to be asking me questions, poking around in my past, bringing things up that I don't want to talk about!" Evelyn said with a raised voice. It wasn't technically yelling, but it was louder than normal. Evelyn got up and grabbed a bottle of some pain killers. She took three and sat back down. Evelyn doubted that it was going to make her chest feel any better, but it was worth a shot.

Lois understood how Evelyn felt. Evelyn had seen much more than she needed to, and she remembered every gruesome detail. "What would you rather have; Lex a free man and you don't have to talk about that night, or Lex in prison for the rest of his life and you only had to talk about that night for a little bit?"

Evelyn slumped in her chair. "Can't they just listen to what I said the first time?"

"They can't do that. Besides, we don't even know for sure they're going to talk about that. Maybe they'll ask you something else."

Evelyn threw Lois and incredulous look. That was never going to happen.

The door opened and Clark came in. "Hey Lo, bud."

"Hey Smallville." Lois said. He walked towards them and Lois leaned up to give him a peck on the lips. Evelyn continued sulking in her chair.

"Where's Love and Caleb?" Clark asked.

"Love's doing homework and Caleb's asleep." Lois explained.

Clark noticed the upset expression Evelyn had. "Is everything all right?"

Lois handed Clark a letter. "See for yourself."

Clark took the letter and scanned through it. His face changed from confusion to rage. "They're re-opening his case?! How could they do that?! It was proven that he attempted murder! He actually succeeded, but the court can't know that!" Clark didn't take Evelyn into consideration while he was yelling.

"Clark…not a good time to mention this." Lois mumbled, hoping he would get the reason why.

Clark didn't and he continued yelling. "He killed me and you had to go to a hospital! Love was seriously injured and don't even get me started on what happened with Evelyn!"

Evelyn kept her eyes shut and tried blocking out Clark's yelling. With every word that he spoke, she could remember clearly everything that happened. Seeing Love and Clark look so sick. Lois being shot and Clark dying. It was too much. Evelyn pushed her chair back and ran up the stairs. She locked herself up in the bathroom.

Clark watched her leave, silently cursing himself for forgetting she was there. He turned back to Lois with a guilty look.

Lois crossed her arms. "Now you've done it."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I kind of forgot that she was there."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Clark, how could you forget that she was there?"

Clark sighed. He had a really long day. Apparently, it still wasn't over. "I don't know Lois." he slumped down into a chair.

"Evelyn's being called to witness too."

Clark sighed. Evelyn didn't need this right now.

"She's refusing to do it."

"But if she doesn't do it, Lex could be freed."

"I tried telling that to her, but she isn't listening."

Clark rubbed his face. First the mysterious e-mail, now this. "And she has to do it?"

Lois nodded. "Just like you do."

"What about the Superman part?"

"We've just got to hope that whoever his lawyer is, Lex didn't tell him anything about it."

"I'll talk with her about it in the morning." Clark said.

"Don't forget to apologize." Lois told him.

"I'll remember."

* * *

Evelyn sat down in the tub and pulled her legs close to her. It was getting so hard to breathe and she was losing the battle to keep the tears down. How could Clark yell about all those things in front of her. She hated talking about that.

She saw Clark in her head calling her his pretty little bud. His eyes closed in pain and he was gone. She remembered Bart as Flash holding her and trying to provide some sort of comfort. Bruce, Oliver and Lois came in. She could see blood pouring out of Lois' shoulder. She passed out, just like Love. She was alone. They left her, all of them.

Evelyn shut her eyes and tears began seeping out. She needed something to distract her. Evelyn pulled out her phone and connected to the internet. She typed in a website and waited for it to load. As she waited, she wiped her eyes. Today she had cried twice. Evelyn hardly cried, but now she had turned into a weeping machine. It made her feel so pathetic. She hated crying.

Her phone vibrated, letting her know the page was loaded. She scrolled down. It was an airline website. Evelyn typed in a destination: Jgsaro, Antique, Philippines.

Evelyn waited a minute for the page to load. She started looking for one that was going to be before Monday and a one way trip. There was only a few options available. They were all after Monday, except for one at the very bottom. It was a flight on Friday night, but it was so expensive. Today was the ending of Wednesday. There were only two tickets left. If she was going to do this, she was going to have to do it now.

Evelyn breathed in and out, trying to calm her erratically beating heart. She climbed out of the tub and walked outside. She could hear Lois and Clark faintly talking in the dinning room. She crept to their bedroom hoping that neither of them would hear her. They were probably too distracted with what they were talking about.

She opened the door to their room. Evelyn knew that Lois always left her extra credit card in a box under the bed along with some other stuff. She bent down on the floor and pulled out the box. She would never use it unless she accidentally maxed out her other credit card.

Evelyn pushed aside some stuff that probably had sentimental value until she found the card. She grabbed it and put the box back under the bed.

Holding the card tightly in her hand, Evelyn went back into the restroom. She sat in the tub and grabbed her phone. She stared at the highlighted link that said 'Purchase Ticket.' Evelyn knew that if she did this, Lois and Clark would be more than furious with her, but Evelyn couldn't take it here anymore. Clark didn't care, she wasn't even Lois' kid, Love and Caleb were half-human, half-alien. Maybe it really would've been better if they hadn't adopted her. She loved this family, but she couldn't take it anymore.

Evelyn selected the link and she typed in Lois' credit card information. At the bottom there was another link, this time it said 'Confirm.' Evelyn hesitated. Was she really going to go through with this? She felt her fingers select it. A new screen came up that said 'Thank you for your purchase. Please pick up your ticket at the airline.'

Evelyn's breath hitched in her throat. She had done it. She was going through with it.

* * *

Lois reached up to grab a bowl from the cabinet. Caleb was sitting at the bar with his legs swinging. His swelling had gone down noticeably, but he was still having headaches. "What kind of cereal do you want, guy?"

"I don't know." he answered.

Evelyn and Love both came down stairs at the same time. They sat down at the table. Love put some waffles in the toaster and Evelyn grabbed a cup of orange juice.

"Where's Dad?" Love asked as she put her chin in her hand.

"He's out running around." Lois answered as she poured some cereal and milk in the bowl for Caleb.

Evelyn didn't look up from her drink. She was still thinking about what she had done last night. She was a bit shell shocked.

"Evelyn, are you okay?" Lois asked.

Evelyn looked up. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You look a little pale." Lois put her hand against her forehead.

Evelyn grabbed it and took it off her forehead. "I'm fine."

"You feel a little warm. Why don't you stay home from school?"

"No! I'm feeling great."

Love and Lois looked at Evelyn weird. "Positive?" "Yeah."

A car horn honked and Evelyn and Love both got up. "See you later Mom! Bye Caleb." Love said.

Evelyn didn't say any good byes. She just walked out the door.

Lois sighed as she watched them get in Mrs. Wilkinson's car. Clark had said that he was going to talk with Evelyn. As far as she knew, Clark hadn't even seen her this morning. "What do you think Caleb?"

Caleb looked up. "Uh…I don't know."

Lois messed with his hair. "Hurry up and finish so we can get to the Planet."

* * *

Clark walked into the bull pen. Lois and Caleb still weren't there yet. As he walked towards his desk, he felt all eyes on him. He knew people would start whispering about him after he would pass them. Clark set down his things on his desk and walked towards Jimmy's.

Jimmy looked up. "Hey C.K.. Where's Lois?"

"She's on her way. She had to wait for Caleb to get ready and she told me to go ahead."

Jimmy nodded his head. Clark could see that something was weighing on his mind. Clark wondered if it had anything to deal with the stares he was getting from everyone.

"Jimmy, is there something that you need to say?"

Jimmy's eyes widened slightly, but then returned to normal. "No…why would you think that?" Clark pulled up a chair and sat on it. "Because you have a guilty look on your face." Clark continued watching his expression. "What is it?"

Jimmy looked around. It seemed like he was finally going to spill it. "There's some talk going around in the office." he whispered. Jimmy looked specifically to Cat's desk. "It's about you and Lois."

Clark knew this couldn't be good. "Is this something that I want to know?" "Probably not, but it would be better if you did. But to be completely honest, I don't believe a word that they are saying." Jimmy said as if he needed to defend himself.

"What's going on Jimmy?"

Jimmy sighed and he looked around again. "You're really not going to like this…" he stood up and motioned for Clark to follow him into an empty conference room.

Clark followed him. "Now can you tell me?"

Jimmy really didn't want to say this, but there was no other way out of this. "You know how Lois and Richard were friends, right?"

Clark nodded. Once Richard was mentioned, Clark knew that this couldn't be good.

"Well, there was this one time about a month ago. Richard kind of cornered Lois in an empty room and well…"

Clark felt anger burn inside of her. "What did he do?" he asked as he clenched his fists. Lois wasn't here to calm him down so he could be as angry as he wanted to be.

"They say that he…"

"Jimmy, what did he do?"

"He supposedly…kissed her."

"What?!" Clark yelled.

"Clark, calm down, it's just a rumor! It's..."

Clark didn't hear a word Jimmy said. He stormed out of the office and started heading towards his desk. He opened one of the drawers and grabbed a small lead box from it. He looked up and saw Richard get in one of the elevators. He didn't seem to notice Clark's rage.

"Clark wait! You don't want to do anything stupid!" Jimmy yelled after him.

Clark ignored him. Everyone was watching him. They had never seen Clark so upset. He walked to the stairs and started running down to the bottom level. Once he was out of sight, Clark opened the lead box and pulled out a bracelet. It had small pieces of blue kryptonite. If he was going to get into a fight with Richard, it was going to be a fair fight.

The door to Perry's office opened and Perry came out. He had seen Clark walk out in a rage and was afraid of what might be going on. He saw Jimmy standing there. He looked like he was at a loss. "Olsen, what's going?" Jimmy turned around. "There was a rumor going around about Lois and Richard. Clark wanted to know about it and he knew that I wasn't going to be able to hide it. I told him and he got really angry and just took off."

Perry cursed. He had no idea what Clark could be capable of. He ran to the elevator and got in.

* * *

Lois walked in the Daily Planet building. Caleb held her hand tightly. His head started hurting this morning and the ache wouldn't go away.

"Mommy, my head still hurts." Lois pulled him close to her. "Don't worry. When we get up to my desk, I'll give you some medicine."

"Okay." Caleb didn't know if it would make it any better, but it was worth a shot.

Lois let Caleb push the up button and they waited for a few seconds. The doors slid open and Richard was standing there. "Lois, Caleb! How are you two this morning?" Richard asked in an overly cheerful voice.

"Richard." Lois said in a bored tone. "What are you-"

"Richard!"

The three of them turned to see who yelled and saw Clark coming towards them. He looked angry.

"Smallville? What's-"

Clark completely ignored her as he went up to Richard and picked him up by his collar. He pushed him against the wall. "What the heck were you thinking?!"

Richard held up his hands in surrender. "Whoa Kent! What are you talking about?!" "Clark! Put him down!" Lois yelled.

Caleb was confused. Why was Clark trying to beat up Richard?

"Tell me the truth Richard! Did you touch her?!"

"What are you talking about?!" "Do not play games with me! Nobody disrespects her!"

"Clark Kent, put Richard down right now!!"

"Daddy? What are you doing?"

Caleb's voice broke through and Clark looked at him. He looked so upset. Clark let go of Richard. "Caleb…"

Clark never found his words because Richard had stood up and kicked Clark.

Clark felt it and he held back a yell. He spun around and delivered a blow to Richard's face. Richard quickly recovered. They were going at it like two dogs fighting over territory.

"Clark! Stop it!" Lois tried getting in between them. She saw blood on Clark's lips. She couldn't believe it. She looked down at his wrist and saw a bracelet of blue kryptonite. Lois' worry subsided, but she couldn't believe that Clark would pull a stunt like that.

"Great Caesar's Ghost! Richard, Kent! What in the world are you doing?!"

Lois looked and saw Perry. "Perry, get Richard, I'll get Clark." Lois ordered.

For the first time in his life, Perry listened to Lois and pulled Richard back. Lois had a little more trouble with Clark. It seemed like every time he looked at her, his anger grew. "Clark, stop! Caleb is watching you."

Clark stopped. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He wiped his bloody nose and lip and slowly turned around and looked at Caleb. He was staring at Clark with tears in his eyes. "Why are you bleeding Daddy?"

"Caleb, I…"

"Kent! Lane! Richard! The three of you, my office, now!!" Perry yelled at all of them. He looked at them all and went back to the elevator. He dragged Richard with him and they both got on.

Lois picked up Caleb. "I swear Clark, if Caleb wasn't here, dealing with Perry would seem like a picnic." Lois starting walking up the stairs at a quick pace.

Clark groaned. How could he have done this? He followed Lois up the stairs, but was always careful to stay at least five feet away.

* * *

Jimmy sat at his desk. It had been five minutes since Perry had gone down and he still wasn't up. Jimmy was starting to get worried. The elevator dinged and Perry got off with Richard. Richard's right eyes was swollen and it looked like he might've chipped a tooth. Perry's face was red.

Everyone was silent as they Perry and Richard walked to his office. Perry slammed the door shut and everyone started talking about the latest development.

Jimmy still didn't see Clark come in. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and Lois was walking with Caleb in her arms. Clark was following her at a distance. He looked like a dog with his tail between his legs.

"Jimmy, can you watch Caleb?" Lois asked as she set Caleb down on his desk.

"Sure." Jimmy said, trying not to stare at Clark's bleeding nose and lip. To be honest, he had never seen Clark bleeding.

Lois turned back at Clark and shot him an evil look. She walked into Perry's office and Clark followed close behind. Instead of leaving the door open for him, Lois slammed it shut in his face. Clark winced and he could hear some of the men groan for him.

Clark turned the knob slowly and walked in. He closed the door silently. Perry was sitting behind his desk with a shot glass out and a bottle of tequila. Clark was about to say something about his drinking, but decided not to open his mouth.

Perry poured himself some and drank it in one gulp. They were silent, waiting for Perry to be the first one to speak. "How's Caleb?" Perry asked.

"He's-" Clark started, but Perry interrupted.

"I was asking Lois." he said without looking up.

"He's fine. Woke up this morning with a headache, but he's doing better." Lois answered.

"Good." Perry poured himself another drink. Perry gulped it down. "Richard, Kent, I swear, there had better be a reasonable explanation for this." Perry eyed them both. "Who started it."

"I did." Clark said, taking the blame. It really was his fault, but he was going to be a man and admit it.

"And what possessed you to do something like that?"

"I um…heard that Richard…kissed Lois." Clark mumbled.

"What?!" Lois exclaimed.

"I would never do anything like that!" Richard defended.

"Shut up Richard! I saw how you were looking at Lois yesterday!" Clark yelled.

"What Kent?! You don't deserve someone like Lois. From everything I've heard, I expected you to stay with that crazy chick that tried to kill you!"

Clark stood up and was about to punch him, but Lois stood in between them. "Clark, don't do it." she said through her clenched jaw.

Richard had a smug look on his face, but it was wiped off after Lois slapped him.

"Thank you Lois. Now I don't have to get my hands dirty." Perry said. "Both of you sit down."

Clark took a seat and so did Richard. Lois stood behind both of them with her arms crossed. Perry watched them both. He knew that Clark would never intentionally hurt someone unless they hurt his family. But Perry also knew that Richard had a thing for Lois. He didn't know if he ever kissed her though. "What am I going to do?" Perry muttered as he poured himself another glass of tequila.

"If anything, _Uncle_ Perry," Richard started, trying to win himself some brownie pointes. "You should fire him and not me."

"And why would I do that?" "Because I'm your nephew."

Clark sighed. "I'll leave if that's what you decide to do Mr. White." Clark said submissively.

Perry knew both of their characters very well. Richard had a tendency to be the bad one and Clark was always going to be the small-town farm-boy with country manners. "I'm not firing anyone today."

Clark let go of his breath while Richard's face became hardened. "But Perry-" Richard started.

"Do not speak until I finish!" Perry ordered. Richard shut up and Perry continued. "Clark, you're going to stay here and continue working. Richard…I'm suspending you for a month. After that, I'll figure something out to do with you."

"What?! Why?!" Richard yelled as he stood up.

"Richard, I know what's been going on between you and Lois. It ends today. Clear out your office. I don't if you're ever going to get your own office again."

"But-" "Do not argue with me. I might change my mind and decide to fire you after all." Perry looked at them both again. "You're dismissed."

Richard stood up and walked out the door. Clark stood up and waited for Lois to leave. She was still very upset with him. Clark took his seat across from Lois. He looked over at Caleb. He had fallen asleep on a chair next to Jimmy.

Clark started fumbling with the bracelet that made him human. "Don't take it off." he heard Lois say.

Clark looked up at her. "Why not?" "Everyone is going to think it weird for your split lip to have suddenly healed." Lois said monotonously.

Clark swung his wrist down. "I'm really sorry Lois."

"We'll talk about this when we get home." Lois looked over at Caleb. "And you've also got to talk with Caleb."

* * *

Steve walked to Cat's desk. He leaned down and started talking with her. "Cat, what did you do?!" he seethed.

Cat looked up at Steve with an innocent expression. "What are you talking about?"

"Did you have anything to do with the explosion between Clark and Richard?"

Cat's face scrunched up. "Maybe?"

"Cat! What did you say?"

"So I told a few people that I found Richard kissing Lois in an empty room."

"How many people did you tell, Cat?" Steve was really getting annoyed.

"Would you believe five?"

Steve shook his head and he waited for Cat to say how many.

"Ten?"

Steve shook his head again.

"All right. I told half of the people that work in the bull pen. I guess word spread."

Steve groaned as he sunk into his chair. "Cat, don't you see what you did?"

"No, not really."

Cat was _such_ a blonde! "You just caused Richard to get suspended and who knows what's going to happen to Clark when he goes home with Lois." Steve narrowed his eyes. "You took it way too far this time." he turned back to his computer and got to work.

Cat grimaced. Maybe this time she really did go too far.

* * *

Lois sighed as she walked out of the bathroom. Her stomach was feeling a little queasy. She looked over at Clark. She was glad that he knew he was in trouble. He listened to her and never took off the bracelet. Thankfully, there had been no emergencies throughout the day that required Superman's help.

Richard had done what Perry told him to do and early in the day, he left, his office was completely bare.

Lois winced as her stomach made an odd gurgling sound. She walked to her desk and pulled out her little planner. On the first day she would receive her gift from mother nature, Lois would put a red dot on the day. She looked back at the last time she started. Lois counted the days and her heart started pounding faster when she finished. She was supposed to start at the Sunday the latest. Today was Thursday.

"Lois? Is everything okay?" Clark asked. He noticed the pale expression on her face.

Lois looked up. "Yeah, everything's fine." she said as she grabbed her purse. "I'm going to go out. I'll be back in a hour or so. Keep an eye on Caleb."

Clark frowned. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, just need something to eat."

"Okay…" Clark didn't buy her excuse, but let her go. He was in no position to start arguing with her.

Lois kissed Caleb good bye and walked into the elevator. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. She waited for a few rings.

"Hey, Lois. Aren't you supposed to be in work?"

"Hey, Chlo. I'm taking a quick break."

"What's going on?" Chloe asked with suspicion in her voice.

Lois was alone in the elevator, but she still lowered her voice. "I'm going to come over, but I need you to get me something at the store."

"What?"

"I need a pregnancy test."

* * *

Bruce sat at the computer his chin in his hands. He had been on for a while already, but he wasn't getting off anytime soon. He couldn't find anything on this Eversor. He didn't even find who sent the e-mail. It was like Clark had said, there were only dead ends.

Bruce picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Oliver Queen."

"Oliver, it's Bruce."

"Uh, is this going to be business?" Oliver asked.

"Yes. Secured business."

"All right, hang on." Bruce could hear Oliver set the phone down and start talking with some people. Bruce supposed that he was dismissing himself from a meeting and was going to a place where no one could hear. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Have you ever heard something about a project called Eversor?" Oliver thought for a moment. "Yeah, I think I read something about it in LuthorCorp files."

Bruce winced. This couldn't be from Lex.

Oliver heard Bruce mutter something unintelligible into the phone. "Bruce, what's going on?"

"Send the team a message. Tell them to be on alert."

"Why?"

"Something big is about to go down. I just know it."

* * *

a/n: longer update this time. yay! thank you all who read this story and reveiwing. next update will definitely be on friday. :D


	11. Search

Search

Lois walked into Chloe's house. It was quiet without all of her kids. They were still in school. "Chloe?"

"I'm in the kitchen!" Lois heard Chloe call out.

Lois walked to the kitchen and saw Chloe making supper for her family. If she didn't do it now, then she was never going to finish it. "Did you buy it?"

Chloe put down her wooden spoon and wiped her hands on a towel. "Yeah. It's in the restroom."

Lois nodded. "Well, I'm going to do it here. How long am I going to have to wait?"

"The box said for about fifteen to thirty minutes."

Lois straightened her shoulders and walked to the bathroom. She locked the door and proceeded to take the test.

Chloe looked at the closed door. She wondered why Lois hadn't done this at her own house. When Jimmy came home last night, he had told Chloe about the tension between Lois and Clark. Jimmy didn't know what had happened though and he probably wasn't going to ever find out.

The door opened and Lois held the small stick in her hand. She put it on a napkin on the table and sat down. She put her head in her hands.

Chloe took a seat next to her and started rubbing her back. "Is everything all right?"

"Not really. I'm really mad at Clark right now."

Chloe groaned inwardly. What did Clark do this time? "What happened?"

"He became over-protective of me and started beating up Richard."

Chloe remembered Richard White. She didn't like him from the beginning. But she couldn't believe that Clark would actually beat somebody up, considering his advantage. "Is Richard all right?"

"Yeah, Clark just gave him a black eye. But he was wearing a blue kryptonite bracelet the entire time."

"Where did he get blue kryptonite from?"

"I don't know!" Lois ran her fingers through her hair.

"I can't blame him for beating Richard up though." Chloe said.

"Chloe!"

"What? I mean Richard has tried to kiss you before, even though you've told him so many times that you are married and happily taken."

Lois didn't argue with that logic. "I guess I'm not upset about him beating Richard up. Heck, I've been wanting to do that for a while. I'm more upset with him for doing it in front of Caleb."

"Caleb was there?!"

"Yup. Made him pretty upset."

"Has Clark talked with him about it?"

"No, Caleb's been asleep for almost the entire day." Lois looked at her watch. It had been twenty minutes. "I think it's ready." Lois said as she looked down at the over-turned stick.

"You ready?"

Lois nodded and she reached her hand out to pick it up. She flipped it over to see the result. Chloe could see a sad expression on Lois' face appear. "I'm not pregnant."

Chloe placed her hand on Lois' shoulder. She understood that Lois and Clark wanted a big family and for Lois to see that she wasn't pregnant sort of shattered her hopes. "It's okay." Chloe said soothingly.

Lois tried nodding as a tear fell down her cheek.

"Here, I'll throw it away." Chloe said with an outstretched hand.

Lois gave it to her and let her head fall on the table surface. Chloe felt bad for Lois. She walked to the trash can with the pregnancy test in her hands. She looked at it before she dropped it in the trash. Chloe furrowed her eye brows at what image was on the test. A little pink cross. A smile spread over her face. "Lois! You read it wrong!" she said as she spun around to face Lois.

Lois looked up with a confused expression. "What?" "The little pink cross means that you are pregnant!" Lois' eyes bulged and a smile appeared on her face. She pushed her chair back and ran to Chloe. She hugged her and began to squeal. "I'm pregnant! I'm going to have a baby!"

The two cousins continued hugging. Lois finally let go of Chloe only to start jumping up and down.

"So when are you going to tell Clark?" Lois stopped jumping for a moment and thought about it. "I'll tell him Sunday."

"Sunday?! You're going to make him wait that long?!" "Hey, I'm angry at him right now." Lois defended. "And I want the moment to be perfect."

Chloe shook her head as she laughed. Lois would never change.

* * *

Evelyn waited at the picnic table with Love, Ella, and Josh. Her, Love, and Josh were waiting for Mrs. Wilkinson to come pick them up. It was the end of school and while everyone was still talking about Evelyn being pregnant or not, some kid named Adrian was now the latest gossip. Apparently, he was dating ten girls at once. All the girls hated him while all the guys wanted to know what his secret was.

Josh couldn't keep his eyes off of Evelyn. The entire day, she had been uncharacteristically quiet. He tried asking her what was going on, but she wouldn't give him a good answer. Love noticed him staring at her and tried to suppress her smile.

"So Evelyn, what's been on your mind all day?" Josh asked.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. He was so persistent! "Nothing Josh."

"Come on Evelyn. We all know that something must've happened." Ella added.

"I agree with Ells."

"Ella!" she yelled her name for the hundredth time that week. Josh insisted on calling her Ells instead. "Ells, Ella, same difference."

Ella silently fumed as she tried to ignore Josh.

"Does this have anything to do with that letter you and Dad got from the Kansas State Court?" Love asked. She had never been told what it was.

Evelyn clenched her jaw. It was part of the reason, but not entirely. "Drop it Love."

"Wait, you got something from the Kansas State Court?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, her and my dad. They won't tell me what it is though."

"Cause' you don't need to know." "Evelyn, calm down. We're not trying to drag it out of you. We're just worried about you." Ella said.

Evelyn sighed. They really did care about her. It made her not want to leave, but she was going to do it. There was nothing that was going to stop her from leaving.

Josh continued studying her. He remembered her talking about running away. "Are you leaving?"

Evelyn looked up at him and held his gaze for a few beats. "Yes. Once your mom gets here, then I'm leaving with you and Love."

* * *

Lois walked into the house. Evelyn and Love were sitting on the couch watching the news. "Hey Mom." Love said from the couch.

"Hey girls." Lois said as she put her brief case down.

Clark walked in with Caleb in his arms. On the way home, he had fallen asleep.

"Hey Da…" Love didn't finish her sentence when she saw Clark's split lip. "Dad! What happened?"

Evelyn turned around and saw it too. She knew that he couldn't get hurt unless there was kryptonite or the person was stronger than him.

Clark put his fingers to his lips to signal them to be quiet. He didn't want Caleb to wake up just yet. He went up the stairs to put Caleb in bed.

"Mom! What happened to Dad?!" Love exclaimed as she walked after her.

"Don't worry Love, he's all right." Lois explained as she poured herself some water. She couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Why are you smiling?" Evelyn asked. "He's hurt and you're smiling?!"

"Evelyn, calm down." Lois eased.

Clark came down stairs. "I didn't realize how heavy Caleb was." Clark said.

"But, you're strong?" Love was really confused.

"Can I take it off now?" Clark asked as he sat in a chair. He didn't exactly pay attention to what Love was saying.

"All right." Lois told him.

Clark slid a bracelet off of his wrist and set it on the table. Instantly, his lip healed.

Love and Evelyn watched in amazement.

"Could someone please explain what happened?!" Love asked, exasperated with their behavior.

"Your dad got into a little scuffle at work." Lois explained.

"What? You could've hurt someone!" Evelyn reprimanded.

"I know." Clark said submissively.

Evelyn couldn't believe it. "I'm going upstairs." she got up and started walking.

"I'm going too." Love said as she followed Evelyn.

Clark looked up at Lois. He was in so much trouble.

Lois eyed him, for some reason, she enjoyed seeing Clark squirm. "You are the most over-protective man in my life. You're worse than the General!"

Clark looked down. He really was ashamed. That was the first time in a while that he let his rage take over. And it scared him.

Lois put her finger under his chin. "But it makes me smile, knowing that you love me that much. Even though I wish that you wouldn't hurt anyone…"

Clark chuckled. "I'm really sorry about that, but I was so angry when I heard that Richard had supposedly tried kissing you."

Lois smirked. "Clark, you know that I can take care of myself." Clark smiled. "I've learned that over the years. I feel bad though that I kind of made Richard get suspended."

"Don't worry about that, Smallville. I was really hoping that he would leave."

Clark shook his head, amazed at Lois. "Then I guess I only need to talk with Caleb about it."

"You still haven't talked with him?"

"He's been asleep for almost the entire day! And when he was awake, he had a headache.

Lois understood what Clark was saying. Lois sort of spaced off though and a smile appeared on her face.

"What is it?" Clark asked.

Lois snapped out of it and tried to seem normal. "Nothing." she said as she busied herself with some dishes. She needed something to keep her hands occupied. If she didn't, then her hands might be tempted to touch her stomach where a new life was forming.

* * *

Evelyn stood in the center of the room. This was going to be the last day she was going to ever sleep in this room again.

"What are you doing Evelyn?" Love asked from her bed. She was sitting comfortably with a book open on her lap.

Evelyn looked at Love. "Nothing." she said as she sat down on her bed. She realized that today was going to be the last time for a lot of things.

Love noticed a guilty look on Evelyn's face. "What did you do?"

Evelyn looked up a bit too quickly. "Nothing."

"Evelyn, you did something."

"No I didn't."

"Whatever…"

Evelyn smiled as she fell back on her bed. For the first time in a while, he chest didn't have a sharp pain. Instead, it was just dull.

* * *

Caleb walked downstairs. He rubbed his head. He had slept a lot today. It felt good.

Lois was in the kitchen trying her best to follow a recipe exactly and Love and Evelyn were sitting at the island doing their homework.

"Hi Mommy." Caleb said as he climbed up onto a stool.

"Hey guy. You awake now?"

Caleb smiled and nodded his head. "Where's Daddy?"

"He's out in the barn. He wants to talk with you actually."

"Okay." Caleb slid off his stood and walked outside to the barn.

He saw Clark working on repairing some rotten wood. "Daddy?"

Clark looked up when he heard Caleb. "Hey there guy. Did you sleep good?"

"Yeah." Caleb jumped up onto a bale of hay and he sat down. He was quiet and didn't say anything.

Clark walked towards him and sat down beside him. "I wanted to tell you that I'm really sorry I hit Richard."

"Why did you hit him?"

"Because sometimes grown ups can do some pretty crazy things."

"And what you did was crazy?"

"Yeah."

"I got really scared." Caleb's innocent voice cut like daggers in Clark's heart.

"I know and I'm super sorry."

Caleb gave Clark a big hug. "It's okay Daddy. I forgive you."

Clark had always been amazed at how quickly little kids could forgive. They'd be upset with you one minute and then you'd say you're sorry and they would completely forget about it. Clark planted a kiss on the top of his head. "Go ask your mom if she wants me to get some food."

"But she's making dinner."

"Exactly."

Caleb giggled and he ran back inside the house.

Clark watched him go. How did he get so lucky?

* * *

Love picked at the meatloaf that Lois had made. It didn't look anything near meatloaf. She looked around and saw that no one was eating theirs either.

The door bell rang and Clark jumped up. "I'll get it!" he said as he practically ran to the door.

Lois looked to see who it was. Clark's back was blocking her view. They waited a few moments before the door closed and Clark came back in carrying two boxes of pizza.

"Yay! We don't have to eat Mommy's food!" Caleb exclaimed as he threw his hands up in the air.

Clark started laughing as he set the pizza on the table. "Lois, you have so many great talents, but cooking isn't one of them." he grabbed the uneaten plates of meatloaf and put them in the sink. He grabbed new plates for everyone and handed them out.

"Thank you Smallville. I honestly didn't want to eat that either." Lois said as she opened a box and grabbed a slice.

Clark chuckled and he grabbed a slice of pizza. Soon, they were all eating except for Evelyn. She had grabbed the smallest slice and taken a little nibble. She wasn't hungry. She hadn't been hungry for a while actually, stopped having an appetite.

Evelyn watched them eating. Love started picking on Caleb and for every remark Love would make, Caleb had a smart reply. Lois and Clark were talking and laughing amongst each other. They would occasionally play referee for Love and Caleb. Evelyn smiled slightly. As dysfunctional as this family was, she couldn't help but feel sorry about leaving. But there was nothing that could change her mind.

* * *

Love walked up the stairs and into her room. Evelyn had excused herself from dinner after eating only half of a small slice. She wondered what was wrong with Evelyn. Love didn't know if Evelyn might've told Josh what was bugging her, but if he did, she was going to be angry with him for not telling her about it.

Love saw Evelyn in her closet pulling out clothes. "What are you doing?" Love asked as she took a seat on her bed.

Evelyn spun around with a completely guilty look on her face. "Nothing! I'm doing nothing." she said in a rush.

Love smirked. "Right, you're not doing anything. That's why you have the most guiltiest look on your face."

Evelyn stuck her tongue out at her as she put some of the clothes back in her closet. "I am not doing anything wrong."

Love looked at her bed. It was covered with all her clothes. "What are you doing? Are you cleaning out your closet or something?" "No, I just felt like pulling my clothes out."

Love got up and started going through them. She found a pink blanket at the bottom of the pile. "I've never seen this. Where's you get it?"

Evelyn snatched it out of Love's hands as if it might disintegrate. "Leave this alone." she ordered.

Love looked at her a bit surprised. "All right, chill. I wasn't going to do anything to it. What is it?"

"It's my blanket." Evelyn said as she looked longingly at the small piece of faded fabric.

"Uh, I get that, but where did it come from? Did Nana give it to you?"

"No…my mom did."

Love thought for a moment. "Your biological mom?"

Evelyn nodded as she gently put the blanket back down.

Love understood now why Evelyn seemed so protective of her blanket. It was the only thing that connected her to her real parents. She would never really understand that, but she knew that Clark would. That was what made their bond so special. The bond that she shared with Clark though was special too because she was his first-born, biologically speaking.

* * *

Love walked down the stairs and found Lois sitting on the couch with her legs pulled up. She was watching the news and, of course, they were showing a harrowing rescue Superman had done.

Evelyn and Caleb were all ready asleep. Evelyn had supposedly put away all the clothes that she pulled out, but when Love opened her closet to borrow a sweater, she knew that Evelyn had lied about putting the clothes away.

"Hey Mom." Love made her presence known as she took a seat next to Lois.

"Hey there Lovely." Lois said as she put her arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

Love sighed. She remembered a long time ago when the only person she could get hugs from was from Lois, but then she had been introduced to her dad and pretty soon, half the people she knew would give her hugs on a daily occasion. "Mom?"

"Yes Lovely?"

"Do you ever think that me and Caleb are…weird?"

"Of course I think that! Just look at the way you two behave." Lois said jokingly.

"No, Mom. I'm being serious. Do you ever think that we're freaks?" Love said a bit more empathetically.

Lois frowned. "Love, if anyone were to be considered a freak it would have to be me. I mean, I _did_ marry an alien and have two kids with him." Lois' hand went to her flat stomach. It would be three in a few months.

Love noticed the love-struck look on Lois' face. "Why are you making that face?"

Lois looked at her, completely oblivious to what she was talking about. "What?"

"Never mind…"

Lois smiled and she rubbed Love's arm. "Remember when it just used to be the two of us?"

"Yeah. You would always make us move around a lot."

"That wasn't my fault. That was Bruce's fault."

"Nope. Bruce always told me it was your fault because you couldn't stay out of trouble."

Lois grinned. "That is true." she said a bit thoughtfully.

"Do you think Evelyn misses it just being her and Dad?" Love asked.

Lois didn't know how to answer that. "Maybe. You have to understand that Evelyn had a pretty hard childhood. She's always grown up wondering what ever happened to her biological parents. When your dad was married to Lana, Evelyn saw them fighting a lot. He told me that when Lana left them, Evelyn asked him if she left because of her. And then also, there was that one night that you can't remember thankfully."

Love frowned. She knew something big happened because she could sort of remember the following morning and she knew that Lois had been in the hospital, but she didn't know where Clark had been. Love couldn't help but feel bad for Evelyn.

"Evelyn had a lot of scars, but it's those scars that make her so strong."

Love smiled knowing exactly how strong Evelyn could be.

The back door opened and Lois and Love turned around to see who came in. "Hey Dad." Love said.

"Hey Smallville." Lois said.

"Hello ladies." Clark said, flashing them his trademark smile. He took off his jacket and walked into the living room. "What are you doing?"

"We were talking." Love said.

"And I was admiring your nice butt on TV." Lois said plainly.

"Mom!"

"Lois!"

Lois started laughing as both of their faces turned a bright red. "I can't help it Smallville. Those tights really show it off."

Clark turned an even brighter red and Love covered her face with her hands. "I'm leaving!" Love declared as she stood up.

Lois grabbed her arm. "Aw, don't leave yet, Love. I'll stop it."

"Promise?"

"Yes."

Love was satisfied with Lois' answer and she took a seat.

Clark sat in between Lois and Love. "So what were you talking about?"

"Stuff." Lois said with a shrug.

"Yeah." Love agreed.

"That's it?" Clark really wanted to know what they were talking about.

"It's nothing that you need to know Smallville." Lois said as she rubbed his thigh.

"Why do you always call him Smallville?" Love asked. Her, Evelyn, and Caleb all wondered why. Love finally remembered to actually ask.

Lois smirked. "It's a really funny story."

"But it's also a long one." Clark added. He was trying to make sure Lois wouldn't talk about it.

Love looked up at the clock. "We have time. Want to explain it?" she asked with hope.

Lois looked at Clark as if asking for permission. Clark just sighed and shook his head, but Lois could see a small trace of a smile. "Well, it started out when I thought that Chloe had died and I had to come out to Smallville…"

* * *

A hooded figure peeked his head around a corner and brought his head back in quickly. If you didn't live under a rock, you would recognize the man as none other than the Green Arrow. But of course if you were incredibly resourceful and knew the right people, you would've known it was Oliver Queen.

People would have to wonder though, why was he snooping around a LuthorCorp warehouse. Oliver made sure there were no security guards around before he moved. He walked with the shadows along the hall.

"Hey! You there! You're not supposed to be here!" yelled a guard that Oliver had looked over.

Oliver spun around and quickly shot the man with a small arrow. The man grunted and fell to the ground. He would wake up in a few hours or so. "Sorry about that man, but an archer's gotta do what an archer's what an archer's got to do." Oliver spoke in his distorted voice.

He continued on his way and paused at a corner. He looked around to make sure it was clear. There was a door about a couple yards away. Oliver walked with his bow in the ready position. He came up to the key pad and shot it with a small arrow. The key pad began sizzling and the metal doors slid open with a jerk. Oliver walked into the empty lab and took a quick look around. The first thing he noticed was the large window.

Oliver walked towards it and looked inside the room on the other side. There was something in there, but he couldn't make it out in the dark lighting. Oliver flipped the switch that was on the wall and a light turned on. Oliver could now see clearly what it was. He took a step back in shock, hoping his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Oliver didn't realize that when he flipped the switch, he set off a silent alarm. Several men ran inside the room Oliver was in, bringing him back to real life. They all had guns pointed at him. Oliver smirked as he shot an arrow to the ceiling. He quickly pulled out a cloth and covered his mouth and nose. A green gas started coming out from the arrow and the men in the room began choking and falling tot eh ground. They weren't dead, just unconscious.

Oliver quickly left the room and ran out the warehouse before he could set off anymore alarms. He needed to tell Bruce what he found out. After he told Bruce, he was going to have to tell Clark.

* * *

Lex threw his glass of brandy into the fire as he watched the clip play over again. It was the Green Arrow breaking into _his_ warehouse. He had discovered what Lex was doing before he was supposed to.

Lex clenched his fists as he tried to calm himself down. It didn't work. He cleared his desk of everything that was on it in one clean swipe. He was still setting up the playing board and already they were moving. His hands gripped the desk tightly. Since they went ahead and moved, he was going to do the same.

He picked up the phone and pushed the intercom button. "Eddie, check the markets. Tell me how they are."

"Why sir?"

"I'm going to buy something big." Lex said. He hung up the phone and sat down in his chair. Even if they were going to move early, he still had a plan up his sleeve.

* * *

a/n: so the chapters are going to be posted about every four days, maybe five, i don't know. hope you enjoy this next chapter! i promise, something really big is going to happen in the next chapters. :D don't forget to leave your thoughts please! they really encourage me a lot.


	12. Departure

Departure

Oliver paced the floor in his office. It was late when he called Bruce. He didn't expect him to answer, much less say that he was on his way. Oliver had been waiting for thirty minutes. He knew that it was a pretty long drive from Gotham to Star City, but didn't Bruce have a Bat Jet he could use?

The door opened and Bruce walked in. His face was unshaven and he looked like he could use a few hours of rest. "What is it?" Bruce asked, going straight to business.

Oliver stopped and looked at Bruce. "I think I figured out what this Eversor thing is about." Oliver said. He took a seat and Bruce did the same.

"I found the location of a warehouse LuthorCorp owns. I snuck inside and started looking around. I went into this lab and I found what I think is Eversor."

"What was it?"

"Were you here when Clark fought Doomsday?"

Bruce thought back a few moments. "No, I was in Mongolia. But I remember hearing something about that."

"Well, Clark barely lived through that fight."

"But what does that have anything to do with Eversor?"

"I think Lex somehow found the remains of Doomsday and now, he's bringing him back to life."

* * *

"Thanks for the ride Mrs. Wilkinson." Evelyn said as she closed the car door.

"Why do you always thank her?" Josh asked after his mom drove away.

"Because it's the polite thing to do." she replied.

Love smiled silently at them. "You don't have to do it all the time, Evelyn." Josh said.

Love looked around and spotted Ella. "Ella!" Ella looked up from her last-minute homework. She put it away when she saw them and started walking towards them. "Hey guys. What's up?" Ella asked as she began walking in sync with them.

"Nothing much. Just trying to convince Evelyn to stop telling my mom thank you." Josh said.

Evelyn rolled her eyes and she playfully punched Josh. She was going to miss this.

"Anyways…" Love said, trying to change the subject. "I was thinking that we should plan something for this weekend, just the three of us."

"Yeah, we're going to throw you a party Ells!" Josh said as he side-stepped a cheerleader. He pulled his coat closer, trying to get warmer.

"A party? It's not even her birthday." Evelyn said.

"I know. I'm just throwing stuff out there." Josh said with a smirk.

Evelyn chuckled and shook her head at his ridiculousness.

"Okay, seriously, is there something going on this weekend?" Ella asked.

"No, just thought us _girls_ could hang out."

"Yeah, we could go to the mall and have our nails painted. We could even dye our hair!" Josh said in a mock feminine voice.

Thee three of them laughed at the way Josh was speaking. Josh eventually joined them in their laughter. Yup, it was official, Evelyn really was going to miss home.

* * *

Clark walked into the newsroom alone. Lois had taken Caleb to the bathroom and would be there in just a few minutes. Caleb's bruise had gone away and he would only have dull head aches. It was definitely an improvement.

Clark saw Oliver and Bruce sitting by his desk talking quietly. He noticed everyone staring at them and wondering what they were doing hanging out around Clark's desk. They all knew that Lois knew them both, but Clark knew them too? And on a personal level? They just couldn't believe it. The only one who knew was Jimmy, but he wasn't even there. He was taking pictures at the opening of a new hospital in downtown Wichita.

"Oliver, Bruce, what are you guys doing here?" Clark asked.

"We need to speak with you." Bruce said in a no nonsense tone.

"In private." Oliver added.

Clark looked around. "Can it wait?" he knew that they were going to start attracting attention.

"No, Clark. This needs to be dealt with now." Bruce said.

"Bruce? Oliver? What are you guys going here?" Lois asked from behind them.

"Uncle Bruce! Uncle Ollie!" Caleb exclaimed as he hugged them both.

"Hey there Caleb." Oliver said as he ruffled his hair.

"Hey Caleb." Bruce said quickly. He looked back at Clark. "We have to do it now."

Clark sighed and he looked over at Lois. She had a look that said she wanted to know what was going on. "I'll be right back." he said.

Lois nodded. "Hurry."

Clark, Bruce, and Oliver walked to the elevators and got on. They went up to the roof. They knew that they wouldn't be disturbed there.

Clark was the first to step off. He walked to the center before he faced them. "What is it?" "Have you found anything out about Eversor?" Bruce asked.

"No."

"It's a project that LuthorCorp is working on." Bruce said.

"It's pretty much a Lazarus thing. They're bringing something, or someone, back from the dead." Oliver said.

"Who?"

Bruce and Oliver exchanged uncertain glances before they continued. "Davis Bloome, or Doomsday." Oliver said.

Clark's jaw unhinged slightly and he just stared at them. "How do you know this?" he finally asked.

"I was looking around in their warehouse and I found it." Oliver explained.

Clark turned his back to them and started thinking. It was impossible for Doomsday to be back. He remembered that he destroyed him completely. "It's not true." Clark said with his back still turned.

"But Oliver saw it with his own eyes."

"Well you must've saw something else." Clark said as he faced them again. "Doomsday is dead. Kara put his body in the Phantom Zone to make sure no one tried reviving him."

"You have to believe us, Clark. This is true. Doomsday is coming again."

Clark sighed. "I'll keep an eye out, but I still don't think Doomsday is alive."

The door opened and Lois stepped out onto the roof.. "Hey Smallville, Perry wants your butt in the office." "Okay, let me finish up here." Clark said.

Lois nodded, but she had worry written across her eyes. She walked back inside and let the men conduct their business.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Oliver asked.

Clark began rubbing his head. "I don't want to believe it, but I'll look into it. First I have to take care of some stuff at home."

"All right Kent. Believe what you want to believe. We just wanted to warn you this time." Oliver said as he held his hands up. "Call us if you ever need anything." Oliver walked out and so did Bruce.

Clark waited for a few moments before he walked back into the bull pen.

"What was that all about?" Lois asked as Clark stopped by her desk.

"Nothing that you need to worry about."

"Clark…"

"Really, Lois. It's absolutely nothing."

* * *

Evelyn was walking down the hallway heading outside to their picnic table. It was the end of the school day and now they were going back home. Evelyn looked at the clock on her cell phone. There was only an hour left before she would have to leave. She clutched her books close to her chest, which was hurting much more. She sighed jaggedly. She didn't think it was going to be this hard.

"Evelyn!" Josh yelled from behind her.

Evelyn screamed and dropped her books. She spun around. "Josh! What the heck?!"

Josh smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you like that."

Evelyn rolled her eyes as she bent down to pick up her books. Josh bent down along with her and helped her gather her books and stray papers.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Josh asked, noticing a tinge of sadness in her eyes.

Evelyn looked up. "Nothing."

"Come on, Evelyn. You can tell me."

"Sorry Josh. Not this time." Evelyn stood up and started walking.

Josh walked with her as they walked out into the bright sunlight. Evelyn paused at the entrance and seemed to drink in the light for a moment. She would never do that. "You're sure you're fine?"

"Yeah." Evelyn said as she continued walking. It may have been cold, but the sunlight felt so good.

If you asked Josh, he would've said she sounded a bit dreamy. They continued walking to the picnic table where Ella and Love were sitting. They took a seat next to each other.

"Another long week finally over." Ella said gratefully.

"I thought this week wouldn't end." Love added.

"I agree. This week has got to be the longest one ever. And we're barely in our second semester."

"But Christmas break is coming up soon!"

"Only what? A whole month left?"

Evelyn listened to them talking. Was she going to be here for Christmas? It'd be the first Christmas with Clark back. Was she going to miss that?

"Hello Evelyn? This is Houston, how's it up there on Jupiter?" Josh said as if speaking over a radio.

Evelyn looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"We've been trying to ask you a question, but you totally zoned out on us." Ella said with a puzzled look. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, would everyone stop asking me that?" Evelyn said a bit exasperated.

"Well, we wanted to make sure you could hang out with us Saturday." Love said.

"I just got off the phone with my mom. She said that she would take us out to Metropolis and drop us off at the mall. She's going to go visit my brother at Met U."

"Uh…I think that I already have something planned." Evelyn lied.

"Like what?" Love asked. She knew everything Evelyn planned. It was one of the benefits of living with her _and_ sharing a room.

"Me and Dad are going to go eat." Evelyn lied. It was the first thing that came to her mind.

Love nodded. She thought that Clark had finally decided to sit down and talk with Evelyn. "Okay then. Josh, do you want to tag along?"

"I guess. Maybe I could find a cute chick." he said as he popped up his collar.

Evelyn and Love laughed while Ella chugged a wad of paper at him. Josh joined them in their laughing.

A car horn honked. It was Mrs. Wilkinson.

"See you tomorrow Ella!" Love said as she started walking away.

"Same here Ells!"

Evelyn stood up and did something different. She gave Ella a tight hug. "Bye Ella."

"Um, you know I'm probably going to see you anyways tomorrow." Ella said.

Evelyn closed her eyes and let go of her. "Yeah." Evelyn's eyes were slowly watering. "Just wanted to say good bye though."

Ella looked at her as if she had grown another head. "Okay…bye?"

Evelyn smiled slightly and started walking all the while her chest burning.

* * *

Love and Evelyn walked in the house. They both set down their back packs and sat down at the bar.

"So what was that hug all about?" Love asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Before we got off the car, I saw you in the rear view mirror hugging Josh." Love's face had a sneaky smile on it. "Are you two finally an item?"

"Love! We are not an item and we will never be an item." Evelyn insisted.

Love laughed. "Whatever you say."

Evelyn looked at the clock. Thirty more minutes left. "Do you know when the parents are supposed to get home?"

Love looked at the clock also. "In about two or three hours. Why?"

Evelyn frowned. She wasn't going to be able to say some kind of good bye to them. It didn't matter any more though. "Just wondering."

Love noticed something. It had been a while since Evelyn called either Lois or Clark Mom or Dad. She would call them that when she was talking about them, but never in front of them. She thought that was weird, but she just blew it off.

Evelyn walked up the stairs. "I'm going to take a nap."

"A nap?"

"Yeah, I feel pretty drained."

"All right. I'm going to be out taking the horses for a run."

Evelyn climbed up the stairs and went into their room. She closed the door and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed for the Smallville taxi company. They only had two taxi's in the entire town. Thankfully, there was one that could get here in ten minutes.

Evelyn pulled out the suitcase she had packed last night when Love was sleeping. She had everything, even hygienic stuff and a large wad of cash she had saved over the years. She opened her drawer and pulled out her passport. Everything was in order.

She looked down at her shoes. They were average tennis shoes. Evelyn went to her closet and looked in her shoe rack. At the very bottom was a pair of work boots. She had only worn them once. She took off the shoes that she was wearing now and slipped the work boots on. They would remind her of Smallville.

Evelyn grabbed her carry-on bag and suitcase and carried them outside.

Love was already in one of the back fields riding one of the horses, so she wouldn't see her leaving. Evelyn waited for a few minutes until the taxi drove up. The man stepped out to help her with her bags and she sat inside the yellow car.

"Where to?" the man asked as he buckled himself in.

"The airport please."

* * *

The airport was much larger than she expected. She remembered going there when Clark and Lois had come back from their honey moon. Clark still didn't know how to fly then.

Evelyn took a seat in the terminal. They were going to board any minute now. She had pass airport security with no problems. She picked up her ticket at the front desk. The lady that handed it to her was very nice. Evelyn was glad she didn't have to deal with rude people right now.

"Now boarding flight 371 for Antique, San Jose, Philippines." a woman spoke over an intercom.

Evelyn stood up and picked up her carry-on. She looked around. An elderly couple was getting their things together and started walking to the line. A young man picked up his little girl with pigtails and threw her up in the air. He caught her with ease and put her back in her mother's arms. He gave both his child and wife a kiss before he walked to the line. A couple with their two kids went in the line also. There was not one person in that line that was alone, except for her.

Evelyn swallowed her tears and walked to the line with her chin up. It was moving at a steady, fast pace.

"Ticket please." a female flight attend asked.

Evelyn handed it to her. She scanned it into a computer. Pathway in front of her was unlocked. "Walk straight ahead."

Evelyn looked down the hallway. It was the hallway boarding onto the plane. Why was she having such a hard time with this? This was supposed to be easy. She was finally going to be able to leave the craziness of Smallville.

With a new resolve, Evelyn put one foot in front of the other. She walked on the plane and found her seat. It was a window seat. She made herself comfortable and opened the shade. She looked out the window. This was probably going to be the last time she ever saw Kansas.

* * *

Lois was the first one to walk in the house. Clark followed after her with Caleb slung over his shoulder. He was laughing uncontrollably.

"Clark, you're really making me nervous! Please be careful with him." Lois said from the kitchen.

"Sorry, guy. You're mom says that we're making her nervous." Clark said as he set Caleb right side up.

"Aw, but I want to do it again."

"No, Caleb. Don't convince your dad to do it. Goodness knows he can give into your demands so easily." Lois said.

Clark walked into the kitchen and gave Lois a hug. "It's because he has your eyes."

"So now you're blaming me?"

"Yup."

"Well both of your kids have you impeccable smile that seems to make me say yes to a lot of things."

Clark laughed. "Where are the girls anyways?"

"Did you check the barn?"

"No, I haven't even looked for them." Clark said.

Clark walked out into the barn. He found Love grooming Loodie, the horse that Caleb named.

Love heard him coming. "Hey Dad."

"Hello Lovely." Clark said as he gave her a hug. "How was school?"

"Good. Me, Ella, and Josh are going to hang out tomorrow." "And Evelyn?"

"She said that you and her were going out to eat."

Clark didn't remember saying that. "I never told her that."

Love frowned. "But that's what she said…"

"Where's Evelyn?" Clark asked in a rush. He didn't like the way his stomach was starting to feel.

"She's upstairs asleep."

Clark took off running back inside the house.

"Smallville, what's…"

Clark didn't hear what Lois was saying. He was only concentrated on making sure Evelyn was in her bed asleep like Love had said. He opened the door to an empty room.

Clark started panicking. "Evelyn?! Evelyn, where are you?!" he yelled throughout the house.

"You can't find Evelyn?" Lois asked. She was getting scared too.

"No, Love said that she was in her room asleep…" Clark ran his hand through his hair.

"Did Evelyn go somewhere?" Caleb asked.

"I don't know, sweetie." Lois said as she picked Caleb up and sat him down on a stool. "Stay here and don't move." she said as she and Clark went outside.

"Was she in there?" Love asked as she met them on the driveway.

"No, do you have any idea where else she might be?"

"No. She said that she was drained and was going to take a nap. She isn't in one of the other rooms?"'

"I checked and didn't find her." Clark looked around trying to find Evelyn.

"Clark, we'll find her." Lois said as she put a hand on his arm.

Clark sighed. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Mommy! Daddy! Look!" Caleb exclaimed as he ran outside with a note in his hand.

Lois picked him up and grabbed the note Caleb held. She read it while Clark and Love read it over her shoulder. 'I'm sorry I didn't say good by.' was all that it said. They all recognized it as Evelyn's handwriting.

"She ran away." Clark said, not wanting to believe it.

"I'll call Ella's and Josh's parents. Maybe she's at one of their house." Lois said as she rushed inside.

"Do you want me to check around town?" Love asked before she ran off.

"Yes, but please be careful and come back as soon as you can." Clark said.

Love nodded and took off in a blur.

Clark walked inside and grabbed the wall phone. He really didn't want to make his mom worry so instead he called Chloe.

"Hello?"

"Charles, is your mommy there?"

"Yeah."

Clark waited for a few moments, expecting Charles to take the phone to Chloe. He didn't. "Can I talk with her?"

"Nope."

"Charles, I-"

"Charles! What are you doing? I thought we told you not to answer the phone." Clark could hear Jimmy over the phone.

"But it was ringing!" "You let one of your sisters or me or Mom answer it, understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Hello?" Jimmy was now on the line.

"Jimmy! Is Evelyn there?" Clark practically yelled.

"No, why?"

Clark sighed. "We can't find her and she left this note. We think that she might've run away "

Clark could hear Jimmy gasp. "How long has she been gone?"

"I don't know. We just came home. Love's looking for her in town and Lois' is calling her friends parents to make sure she's not over at one of their houses."

"Is their anything that we can do?"

"Make sure you tell Chloe and just keep an eye out."

"I'll drive around. Maybe she came to Metropolis."

"All right. Thank you so much Jimmy." Clark didn't wait for Jimmy to say good bye before he hung up the phone.

Clark looked over at Lois. She had the phone to her ear, waiting for someone to pick up. "I just got off the phone with Ella's mom. She said that Evelyn hasn't been by. I'm trying to get a hold of Mrs. Wilkinson. I know that Evelyn and Josh are pretty close. Maybe she's there."

Clark stood by Lois and started listening in.

"Hello?" came Josh's voice on the other line.

"Josh, this is Lois."

"Oh, hey Mrs. Kent."

"Is Evelyn there?" Lois asked cutting straight to business.

"No, why? Is everything all right?"

Lois let out a frustrated breath. "We can't seem to find her."

Josh was silent. Clark could hear him mutter 'Oh crap.'

"Josh, if there's anything that Evelyn told you, you need to tell us." Lois said.

"Um, she kind of did mention something…"

"What was it, Josh." Lois was getting tired of him beating around the bush.

"She said that she was tired of living here in Smallville with a…dysfunctional family."

Lois' breath hitched. She knew that they weren't the typical family, but that was the reason why Evelyn left?

"She told me that she wanted to find the orphanage that she was adopted from."

Clark heard what he said. He took the phone from Lois. "What are you trying to say Josh?" he demanded.

"Mr…Mr. Kent?" Josh stuttered. He was still pretty scared of him.

"Answer the question!"

"Clark, calm down." Lois said.

"She said that she wanted to go the Philippines!" Josh exclaimed, sounding scared.

Clark nearly dropped the phone. He couldn't hear anything, he was in a complete daze.

"Clark? Clark, what is it?" Lois asked, her voice frantic.

Clark looked up at her, his face showed how lost he was.

Lois pried the phone from Clark's hands. She continued talking with Josh for a few moments. She thanked him for the information and hung up.

"She's gone." Clark said.

"No, she's not. We'll find her. Maybe she didn't even go to the Philippines. Have you called your mom?"

"I don't want to worry her." Clark stood up and started pacing.

"Okay, I'll call her. Why don't you fly around to see if you can find her?"

Clark nodded his head. He left the house and flew in the air with a sonic boom. He didn't even bother changing into his Superman outfit. Evelyn leaving really made Clark feel lost. Lois felt lost too, but somehow, she managed to keep her head on. Lois loved Evelyn like she did Caleb and Love or even her little baby that was slowly growing inside of her. Her hand went to her stomach and she prayed that they would find Evelyn.

Martha's answering machine picked up. "Martha, this is Lois. Could you please call back as soon as you can. Thanks." Lois ended the call and proceeded to call Oliver.

Lois waited impatiently for Oliver to pick up. While she waited, she turned on her laptop. If Evelyn really did go to the Philippines, she would have to use one of their credit cards to purchase the ticket. Lois was going to check their accounts.

"Oliver Queen."

"Oliver, look I need you to be the team on alert-"

"Great, what other threat is there? Does this have anything to do with Eversor?"

Lois frowned. "How do you know about Eversor?'

"Uh…what were you going to say?"

"Ollie, you're not going to get out of this. But there's something more important right now. I need you to tell the League to keep an eye out for Evelyn."

"Evelyn? What happened?"

"We think she ran away."

"Are you serious? How's Clark?"

"He's taking it pretty hard, we all are, but he seems to have totally lost it."

"We'll help look for her."

"Thanks Oliver."

"No problem."

Lois set the phone down and put all of her focus on the computer. She typed in Clark's credit card number first. There weren't any purchases from an airline. She logged off and checked her account. Nothing. She cursed. Where in the world was Evelyn. She didn't buy an airline ticket, not even a ticket for a boat ride.

Wasn't there something else? Lois remembered her extra credit card. She didn't think Evelyn or Love knew about that much less where she hid it. Lois went up to get it. She pulled it out and came back down. She typed in the number and waited.

The purchase history opened and there it was. A purchase from Metropolis Airlines.

Lois stood up and ran out the door. "Clark!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

* * *

Evelyn opened her eyes. She looked around and saw all the people on the plane along with her. She checked what time it was. It was seven back in Smallville.

"Attention passengers. Please buckled your seatbelts. We are about to land in thirty minutes. Thank you." the captain of the plane spoke over the intercom.

Evelyn did what the captain said and looked out the window. All she could see was sea, but in the midst of the sea were islands. The Philippine Islands to be exact.

* * *

Clark was flying over Detroit when he heard Lois scream. He stopped in mid air, careful not to let anyone see him. He turned around and flew faster than he ever had back to Smallville. He dropped to the ground in front of Lois. "Did you find her? Is she back?" Clark asked in one breath.

"No. I think she really did go to the Philippines." Lois said as she tried holding her tears in.

Clark didn't say anything as he took a step back. "What?" he finally asked.

"I can look up the information to see when it left-"

"You're sure that she left?" Clark asked as he began pacing and running his fingers through his hair.

"Clark, I've checked, double checked, I even triple checked. The purchase is still there." Clark was in a complete break down. "She'll be fine Clark. We'll find her and bring her back home." Lois said, trying to convince Clark and herself.

"Lois, you don't understand. Evelyn doesn't have super powers like Love and Josh, and she's never taking self-defense classes like you. Some lunatic could take advantage of her!"

Lois hadn't thought about that until Clark pointed it out. She looked at Clark with a fierce determination in her eyes. "We will find her Clark."

* * *

Eddie smiled at the papers he held in his hands. This was definitely good news. He knocked on the door of Lex's personal room.

"Come in." Eddie could hear Lex say.

Eddie opened the door and walked in. "I, uh, have some good news."

"It better be good." Lex said as he saved the work on his laptop and closed it.

"It seems like Evelyn has run away to the Philippines." Lex stood up with an evil grin on his face. "Are you serious?"

Eddie held out the papers. "Yes sir."

Lex snatched them and started reading them. It was the ticket information. This was good, really good. It was more than likely that Clark and Lois notified the Justice League already to keep an eye out for Evelyn. With them looking for Evelyn, Lex could finally move more quickly, but he still had to be sure not to make any mistakes. Evelyn just gave him an extra boost. "Eddie, it's time we make our purchase."

"Wouldn't it be better if we wait for Eversor to be complete?" Eddie asked.

"Clark and Lois are bound to have notified the League, and they're going to be busy with that. They won't even see it if we did it right under their nose."

* * *

a/n: here you go people, a new chapter! tell me what you think and i will post the next chapter up as soon as i can. oh and i am super pumped because tomorrow they show stiletto! woo!


	13. Deals

Deals

Evelyn stepped out of the airport into the bright sunlight. She was so tired and sleepy. It was already ten at night in Smallville and here it was barely eleven in the afternoon.

It was amazing here. Evelyn could smell the salty air from the ocean. There were people everywhere in the streets walking back and forth. There were cyclists on the road along with cars driving by. People seemed to stop more often and start a conversation with others. It was a completely different world.

Evelyn looked down at her naturally tanned skin then at the people around her. Most everyone had the same skin color and the same black hair, but there were a few who had fairer skin with either dark or light brown hair. Then of course, there was always the American tourists looking completely out of place with their straw hats, dark sunglasses, Hawaiian floral shirts, and a map held out before them as they would spin around and point in different directions looking completely lost.

Taxi cabs were driving by. Evelyn looked down at the paper she held in her hand. It was the name of the orphanage and where it was located. Evelyn breathed deeply and held her hand out, hoping a taxi would stop.

All the taxi's drove by, completely ignoring her. Evelyn's hand fell to her side and she whistled as loud as she could. A taxi finally squealed to a stop in front of her. The man rolled down his window. Evelyn walked to the window and handed him the paper. "Can you take me here?" Evelyn spoke slowly. She may have been born here, but she didn't know how to speak their language.

The man studied the paper for a moment. "Yes. I know where this is." he said with a heavy accent.

Evelyn smiled her appreciation and walked to the trunk with her suitcase and bag in hand. She popped the trunk open and put her luggage in. Evelyn walked to the car door and opened it. She sat down and the taxi driver took off.

Evelyn looked out the window admiring it all. It felt so surreal. She was finally in the Philippines. Never before had she thought that she would ever come back. She closed her eyes and breathed in the air. It smelled familiar, just like her baby blanket in her suitcase.

* * *

Lois came down the stairs after putting Caleb in bed. Love and Clark were sitting the table doing nothing.

Lois made herself a cup of coffee and sat down with them. They continued on in their silence, only to be broken by Clark. "Mom called."

"What did she say?"

"She's coming over in a few with Oliver driving. She also said to let Evelyn call before we go after her." Clark said as he looked down at his hands.

Lois didn't know what to say. She grabbed Clark's hand and squeezed it.

"I don't know what to do Lois. I could fly over there so quickly and find her, bring her back home so that nothing bad could happen to her."

Love watched them. She never believed that Evelyn would run away. Didn't she feel at home here? Or did she stop considering them her family once Clark left? Love's phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out. It was a text from Josh. She opened it and read it. 'I'm coming over. Ells can't make it though. Later.'

Love closed her phone shut and looked back and forth at Lois and Clark. She knew that they really didn't the whole world to be looking for her, but they were Evelyn's friends. They had to know. "Um, Josh is coming over and Ella might to."

Clark looked up. "Why are they coming?"

"Because Dad, they want to help look for her."

"Love, this is a family matter. We don't need any other kids involved in this!" Clark yelled out the last part. He didn't mean to, he was just so frustrated that he couldn't do anything.

"Dad, they want to help! Don't you want more people helping?!" Love yelled back.

"Not when they know nothing about us!"

"Dad! They've both been our friends since elementary! They know practically everything about us!!" Love stood up and yelled with more passion.

"I do not care! They do not know about anything about our genealogy!" Clark stood up also.

Lois wanted so bad to intervene and stop the yelling, but she started feeling sick. It felt as if that lunch she had wasn't agreeing with her.

"No wonder Evelyn ran away! You don't even know what's going on in our lives! You don't even know what happened this week with Evelyn at school!" Love yelled. She didn't wait for Clark to yell back. She stormed up the stairs and slammed the door to her room shut.

Clark was about to bring his hand down on the table which would've led to it breaking in half. He closed his eyes and calmed himself down. He took a seat and looked at Lois. He noticed how pale she was. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No, not really." she said before she got up and ran to the trashcan. Her stomach began to expel its contents in a very loud and sickening manner.

Clark got up and went to Lois, rubbing her back while she continued vomiting. He tried not to make any faces, but it really smelled horrible.

Lois finally stood up straight again and went to the sink. She began rinsing her mouth, trying to get rid of the awful taste. She was going to go up to the bathroom in a minute to brush her teeth.

"How do you feel?" Clark asked with concern written on his face.

"Better, I think I just needed to do that." Lois brushed it off. She didn't wait for him to say anything else. She climbed the stairs and went into the bathroom. Maybe the minty taste of the toothpaste would help.

* * *

The taxi driver stopped in front of a large building. It was painted a bright blue and had little handprints all over the walls in different colors. None of the handprints were the exact same size. They all looked completely different and original. There was a tall metal gate at the entrance. At the top it had the name Bahay-Kalinga on it. Evelyn had done a little research before she came and she knew what the name meant. It meant Home of Care.

Evelyn stepped out of the taxi and paid the amount required. She took out her bags and the taxi drove away. She looked inside the gate. There were kids running around and playing, most of them with tan skin and black hair. They all looked as if they didn't have a care in the world. The only thing that could possibly concern them was what they were going to play next. In a field, there was a large group of them playing soccer, all of them wearing sandals. Evelyn looked down at her brown work boots. She suddenly felt guilty for having them. She never used them, so why did she have them?

Two kids stuck out, though. Two little girls sitting in the corner talking and coloring on the cement with a rock. They looked alike, practically identical. Evelyn wondered what there names were.

"Can I help you?" asked a woman standing at the gate.

Evelyn looked up, surprised that the woman was speaking perfect English. She had blonde hair and green eyes with a very pale skin color. She stuck out like a sore thumb. "You speak English?"

The woman laughed heartily. "Yes, I do. And it seems that you do too. I was getting worried that maybe you didn't since you looked at me with a blank face." The woman opened the gate and stepped out. "I'm Edna. Me and my husband are the directors here at Bahay-Kalinga."

"I'm Evelyn…" Evelyn didn't know what name she should say next. Kent or Dalisay? Was she even a Kent anymore since she ran away? She decided to leave it at Evelyn.

"Evelyn…that name sounds familiar…" Edna studied her face.

"My adoptive father said that this was the orphanage where he adopted me."

"Oh! Little Evelyn Dalisay! I remember now!" Edna said with a smile. "You used to run around with your bright eyes. Look at you now. You're all grown up and so beautiful!"

Evelyn tried not to blush. "So I'm guessing you knew my adoptive parents as well."

"I remember your father, but I don't think I ever met your mother." Edna said with a thoughtful look. "How are they?"

"My…_adoptive_ dad is doing fine. He re-married."

Edna nodded. "And it's not my place to ask about it." Edna looked at Evelyn's bags. "By the looks of your suitcases and lack of parental guidance, I'm guessing you ran away?"

Evelyn looked down. "I, uh, don't really want to talk about it right now." the ache in her chest became sharper with every second that passed.

Edna frowned, knowing that there was a large possibility that Evelyn had ran away. "Well why don't you come in. You can set your things down inside. But you are going to have to call someone to let them know that you're fine. I can only imagine how worried they must be over you."

Evelyn smiled gratefully and followed Edna in. Children flocked to them and started calling to Edna. They would call her Nanay, and then start speaking in Filipino. Edna would reply to them in the same language and Evelyn heard her name being mentioned.

The children turned to Evelyn and formed a line. They would each take a turn hugging her and saying, "Welcome Evelyn."

Evelyn was touched. Never before had she experienced something like this. She smiled, the pain in her chest going away.

At the end of the line were the two little girls that Evelyn noticed more. They both hugged her at the same time, but held on longer than most of the other children. They finally said their expected line and ran back to their corner.

Edna started walking with Evelyn behind her. "What are those two girls names?" Evelyn asked.

Edna looked to see where Evelyn pointed. "That's Katrina and Esmeralda. They're twins. The one wearing the green shirt is Katrina and the one in the brown is Esmeralda. They are both nine years old."

Evelyn nodded as she watched them. "How long have they been here?"

"Since they were born. Their mother couldn't take care of them so she turned them over to us." Edna stopped a moment and looked at all the children. "We have no idea where their father is."

Their story made Evelyn sad. She couldn't imagine living the life that they had to live.

"Evelyn, their mother was your mother also."

Evelyn turned around and looked at Edna in shock. "What?" "Her name was Maria. When she came here, she asked for the little girl that had a blanket that had Evelyn Dailsay embroidered on it." Edna looked at Evelyn with a half smile. "That was you."

Evelyn looked at Katrina and Esmeralda. "So then that makes them…"

"Your sisters."

Evelyn's chest constricted in pain. She moaned a little as the sharpness intensified. "Can I lie down somewhere?"

Edna nodded, knowing that this was a lot of information for Evelyn to take in. She led Evelyn to a room with a single bed. "If there's anything you need, just tell me."

Evelyn nodded and closed the door. She sat down on the bed and thought about what she had just learned. She had two little sisters out there that were biologically related to her.

Evelyn closed her eyes, willing the pain in her chest to subside. It only grew the more she thought about it. Whatever was going on inside of her, it was serious. It had been serious a long time ago, but Evelyn was now just acknowledging it.

She pulled out her cell phone and checked the service. She could make calls out here. She was so glad that Lois insisted on getting the international plan. She dialed a number. If there was one person that she wanted to call, just to let them now that she was okay, it was Josh.

* * *

Martha and Oliver walked in the farm house to see Clark giving Lois some tea. Clark looked up when he saw Martha and Oliver come in. "Mom, Oliver." Clark greeted.

"Oh Clark." Martha ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him. A few tears fell down her face. "Don't worry, Clark. We'll find her."

Clark tried his best not to cry, but it was so hard.

"Yeah, sorry about that Clark." Oliver said.

Clark let go of Martha and stood up straight. "It's all right. You weren't the one that drove her away."

Martha and Oliver frowned and were about to ask Clark what he was talking about, but Lois intervened. "Hey Martha, Ollie."

"Lois, how are you?" Martha asked as she hugged the younger woman.

Lois sighed as she hugged her back. "I'm just really worried right now."

"Do you know exactly where she might be?" Oliver asked.

"We just know she took a flight to San Jose, Antique, Philippines." Clark said. "But I think that after she landed, she went to Jgsaro to find the orphanage she was adopted from." Clark turned to his mom. "I know that I can find her if I just fly over there, I could get her and take her back." he pleaded with Martha. He couldn't understand why she wanted him to wait for her to call someone.

"Clark, I know this is hard, but you need to wait. If you force her back, she's going to end up running away again. Trust me, Jonathan and I had to deal with our own teenaged runaway." Martha replied.

Clark looked down, remembering those months way back when he was still in high school. It seemed like a lifetime ago. If it had been any other time, he would've laughed at Oliver's raised eyebrows. "How did you do it, Mom?"

"I don't know, Clark. I honestly don't know."

Someone started knocking at the front door. Both Clark and Lois stood up and rushed to the door, hoping against hope that it was Evelyn. They opened the door and instead found Josh. "Hey, Mrs. Kent, Mr. Kent." he said sounding very unconfident.

Lois attempted a smile. "Josh, it was nice of you to come." Lois opened the door wider so Josh could walk in. She knew that was exactly what Clark didn't want. "Have you heard anything from Evelyn?"

Josh shook his head. "I've been helping Love look around Smallville. I kind of don't understand why she thought she could do it alone."

"That's just the way she is." Lois started walking back to the kitchen and Josh followed her. Clark closed the door with a growl and followed after them.

Clark climbed up the stairs as Lois was introducing Josh to Martha and Oliver. He opened the door to Love's room. She was on her bed reading a book. "Love, go downstairs. Josh is here." Clark said, trying his best not to sound cold.

Love looked up at him and he could see how angry she was. "I'm going." she said. She put the book down and passed him down the stairs. She went into the kitchen where everyone was gathered. "Hey Josh." she said with a wave. "Hi Nana, Uncle Ollie." Love gave Martha and Oliver a hug and she took Josh by the arm and led him into the living room. She knew that the adults were going to want to talk.

They both sat down on the couch. "Your parents look pretty upset." Josh said as he tried starting conversation.

"Why wouldn't they, Josh? Evelyn ran away to a completely different country." Love couldn't keep the harshness out of her voice.

"Okay then. Guess I'll shut up."

Love sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm kind of upset too. On top of being upset about Evelyn running away, me and my Dad kind of had a big blow out."

Josh frowned. "Are you going to be all right?"

Love nodded. "How long have you known about Evelyn wanting to run away?"

"She told me this week. I didn't think that she was actually going to go through with it."

Love sighed. "Josh, how could you not tell us?"

"Because your family needs to work on their communication skills."

Love huffed as she sat back on the couch. "I really need to be doing something right now." she mumbled.

"Why don't you try going to sleep? Aren't you tired?"

"Not really."

Josh didn't say anything back. There was nothing left to say. Josh's phone started ringing. He pulled it out, wondering who could be calling so late. He didn't bother to check the caller id. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" came the other voice. The line was filled with static, but Josh could make out what the person said.

"Who is this?"

"I asked you where are you." the voice sounded more impatient.

Josh recognized it once there wasn't a lot of static. "Evelyn?!"

Love sat up straight and all the adults sitting at the table turned their heads. "Evelyn's on the line?" Love asked with a hopeful tone.

"Great, are you at my house, Josh?" Evelyn asked from the other line. She had heard other people in the room, but she couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Josh, is that Evelyn?" Lois asked as she got up. Clark stood next to her while Oliver and Martha stayed in the dining room.

Josh grimaced as he nodded.

"Give me the phone Josh." Clark said.

"Josh, I swear if you give the phone to anyone, I will hang up." Evelyn threatened. She heard what Clark had ordered.

"Sorry Mr. Kent. She said that if I gave anyone the phone, she'd hang up."

Clark clenched his jaw. "Where is she?"

"Evelyn, your dad wants to know where you are." Josh relayed the message.

"I don't want to talk with my dad's messenger. I want to talk with Josh." Evelyn said defiantly.

"Then where are you?"

"The Philippines."

"Where in the Philippines?"

"Sorry Josh. That's all I'm saying."

"But-"

"I'm going to hang up if you don't stop talking about it."

Josh paused. "Evelyn, we're all really worried about you."

Evelyn didn't say anything. "I know, but don't be. I'm fine."

"What is she saying?" Lois asked as she grabbed Clark's arm and squeezed it.

"That she's all right and for us not to be worried about her." Josh said.

"Who's there?" Evelyn asked.

"Your parents, Love, your nana, and Oliver Queen."

Evelyn sighed. "Let me talk with Oliver." Evelyn needed to talk with someone that didn't really know her, but knew her parents.

Josh set the phone down. "She wants to talk with Mr. Queen." Josh told Lois, Clark, and Love.

"Why does she want to talk with him?" Clark asked rudely.

"Clark, do not argue right now. Be happy that's she on the phone, all right?" Lois said sounding a bit edgy.

Clark gave her a cold stare as she grabbed the phone from Josh and handed it to Oliver.

"She wants to talk with you."

Oliver widened his eyes. "Me? Why?"

"I don't know, but please just do it Ollie." Lois said with pleading eyes.

Oliver nodded as he took the phone. "Evelyn?"

"Uncle Ollie."

"Hey, everyone's worried about you." Oliver said.

"Can you go someplace where no one will hear you? And make sure Clark won't hear either." Evelyn asked.

Oliver frowned when Evelyn called Clark by his first name. "All right." he held the phone away from his mouth. "I'm going outside. She wants me to be alone before she talks." Oliver went up to Clark. "And she specially requested that you don't listen in."

Clark couldn't believe this. His daughter was on the other line and he wasn't even allowed to talk with her. Clark just nodded. "Oliver, tell her I love her."

Oliver nodded as he went outside. Clark walked to the table and sat down beside Martha. He let his head fall into his hands.

Martha started rubbing his back. "You did the right thing, Clark."

Outside, Oliver took a seat on the porch swing. "Okay. I went outside, no one followed me and I asked your dad to not listen in."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"You just have to trust me."

Evelyn sighed. "Fine."

"So you want to explain why you ran away?"

Why was she feeling guilty? She wanted to talk with someone that she still wasn't very familiar with, but know she only felt even worse. "Because…I just…" Evelyn puffed out a breath of air. This was hard. "I don't feel like I fit in anymore."

"At school?"

"No…at home."

"Evelyn, of course you fit in. You're part of the Kent clan. You give them culture."

"That's why they have Clark, Love and Josh. You can't get more culture than a full-blooded kryptonian and two humans slash aliens." Evelyn said sarcastically.

Oliver chuckled. "You've got a point." Oliver let a moment of silence pass. "So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Evelyn said, sounding confused. Oliver could literally hear her rubbing her face.

"Then if you don't know, I might as well ask you how it is down there."

Evelyn smiled, thankful for the change of subject. "It's so beautiful, you can actually smell the sea from here. I'm at the orphanage where Clark found me and these kids are just so amazing. They came up to me and gave me a hug and welcomed me in English." Evelyn smiled even more. "I found out I have two twin sisters here."

"No way."

"Yeah. I didn't believe it either, but Edna, one of the directors here, confirmed it."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Evelyn chuckled. "Yeah."

"So do you plan on coming home?"

Oliver could hear Evelyn sigh heavily. "I didn't know how much I was going to miss it."

Oliver didn't say anything. He let Evelyn continue thinking about this. "It's just…" Evelyn groaned. Why couldn't she get this out. "I really miss home, but I want to stay for a little bit."

"How long do you want to stay?" "Well, it's already Saturday here, isn't it sill late Friday there?"

Oliver looked at his watch. "It's about thirty past ten."

"Okay…I'll come home, but only on one condition!"

"All right, what's your price?"

"You have to be the one to pick me up. I don't want Lois or Clark coming with you."

"Evelyn, do you really want to do that to them?"

Evelyn didn't say anything. The reason why she didn't want them to come was because she knew that even though they would be happy to see her safe, Evelyn would also see shame and disappointment.

"I know what you're thinking."

Evelyn scoffed. "I didn't know you were a mind reader."

Oliver cracked a small smile. "No, but I know that the reason why you don't want them to come is because you're scared of what you might see in their eyes."

"How did you…"

"Don't worry, kid. I know your parents real good. So who do you want me to take? Both of them or just one?"

Evelyn sighed. She felt like she was going to have to chose one above the other. "I don't know. Why don't you chose?"

"It's not my decision to make. Lois won't get offended if you don't pick her."

Evelyn chuckled. "All right, you can bring Clark."

"When do you want me to come and get you?"

"Um, Sunday afternoon."

"Okay. Do you want me to put one of your parents on the phone?"

"No, I'm done talking."

"Okay, I'll see you Sunday then."

"Thanks Uncle Ollie."

"Any time kid, oh and remember, you're family loves you Evelyn. Do you think that Clark would've adopted you if he didn't love you?"

Evelyn really hated the way she was feeling. She knew that he was only telling her the truth, but it hurt, it hurt a lot. "I know." Evelyn admitted.

"See you Sunday." Oliver hung up the phone and walked inside. Clark was still sitting in the same position next to Martha. Lois was on the other side of Martha and they were talking quietly amongst themselves. Love and Josh were sitting on the couch looking very tired.

The door slammed shut after Oliver came in. Everyone's head snapped up and they looked at Oliver expectantly. "We talked." Oliver said as he clasped his hands and leaned against the island.

"And?" Clark asked as he stood up.

Oliver tossed the phone to Josh who caught it. "She explained to me why she ran away, but you two need to talk with her about it." Oliver said as he pointed to Lois and Clark.

"Did she say anything else?"

Oliver smiled. "She told me something that was actually really neat, but you need to hear it from her." Oliver said referring to Evelyn's new sisters.

"When can we get her?" Clark asked getting impatient with Oliver.

"We made a deal and she said that we could get her Sunday afternoon. But she wants me to get her and only Clark can come. Oh, and she wants it to be on the jet, no other flying companies." Oliver chose his words wisely, knowing Josh was still there and listening to every word they were saying.

Clark frowned. It would be so much faster if he just flew over there. But if he did, there was a possibility that he would push Evelyn further away. "I'll start getting stuff together." Clark said. He started walking up the stairs.

Oliver nodded. "Mrs. Kent, you ready to go home?"

Martha nodded as she rubbed her eyes. "This is the latest I've stayed up in a while."

Oliver smiled as he led her out the door and helped her into his car.

Lois stood up. "I'm going to bed. Josh, don't stay here too late. I know you're mom is going to get worried." she was feeling so tired lately. She didn't remember the first few weeks being this hard. It was probably because of all the things that was going on right now.

"Okay, Mrs. Kent." Josh said as he stood up.

Love stood up and said good night to Lois as she walked up the stairs. "So, I guess you're leaving." Love said.

"Yeah." Josh said as he put his phone in his pocket.

Love led him to the door. "Thanks Josh for coming over."

"No problem." Josh said.

Love noticed that he had a hurt expression on his face. "What's the matter?"

Josh looked Love in her eyes. "I just wish that I would've told somebody about everything Evelyn was going through."

"Evelyn told you because she knew that you weren't going to tell anyone."

Josh chuckled. "I got pretty scared when I heard that she ran away. I didn't know if she was okay or not."

Love smiled secretively. "I know."

"Puts your whole life into perspective when something like this happens." Josh mumbled more to himself.

"Yup." Love's smile only grew more.

Josh inhaled deeply. "Well, I'm going home. Please call me whenever something else happens." he opened the door and stood outside on the porch.

"Don't worry about it, Josh." Love said as she held the door.

Josh smiled and said his good byes. Love closed the door and started smiling like an idiot. She knew that whenever Evelyn came back, Josh was definitely going to sit down and talk with her.

* * *

Lex looked down at the papers that Eddie handed him. "All you have to do is sign here." Eddie pointed to a dotted line that started off with a large 'x.'

Lex read the fine print underneath the dotted line. "How long will this take for it to take effect?"

"About a day or two."

Lex grabbed his fountain from the desk. He signed his name in a quick stroke and handed it back to Eddie. "I want you to turn this in no later than tomorrow." Lex enunciated every syllable. He knew how easily the translation could get lost.

Eddie nodded as he took the paper from Lex's hand. "Yes, sir." he looked down at the paper in his hands. It was the deed to the Daily Planet.

* * *

a/n: sorry i didn't post this sooner. we have some guests over right now so it's pretty chaotic. but i would like to dedicate this chapter to k3josai. she helped me with this chapter and she is always encouraging me. so this is for my clois friend ;D reviews are great and i hope you like this chapter


	14. Flights

Flights

Evelyn walked out of the building after taking a little nap. She didn't realize how tired she was going to be. Her chest was still hurting though. She looked around. The sun was still high in the sky, but you could see that it was starting to lower. The kids were still running around and playing. They all had so much energy, Evelyn wondered where they got it from.

"Evelyn!"

Evelyn turned her head and saw one of the twins calling her. It was Katrina. She kept signaling for Evelyn to come towards them. Evelyn smiled as she walked towards them.

Katrina and Esmeralda smiled up at her. Their hair was pulled up in pigtails that were braided. They're hands were covered in dirt, but they didn't seem to notice and Evelyn made sure not to let it bother her. They were identical in every way except that Katrina's hair and face were slightly bit lighter.

Katrina patted the ground, waiting for her to sit down. Evelyn sat down and crossed her legs. Katrina proceeded to take out a picture and showed it to Evelyn. "Nanay."

Evelyn looked at the picture. It was of a younger Katrina, Esmeralda and another woman in the center. The three of them were all smiling. Katrina shoved her finger into the picture and pointed at the woman. "Nanay."

Evelyn didn't know what Nanay was. "Nanay?" she repeated.

Katrina frowned as she tried thinking of a way to explain it to Evelyn. Esmeralda stepped in. "Mo…ther…mother."

Evelyn smiled. This was their mom. "Your Nanay?"

They both nodded with smiles on their faces. "You too." Katrina said.

Katrina smiled. "You are Ate Evelyn."

"Sister!" Esmeralda clarified.

Evelyn tired keeping her emotions in check. Sure, she may have only met these two girls, but she already felt such a strong bond with them. She felt bad though. She had been adopted when she was still a toddler. These girls were already starting to grow up and they were still here at the orphanage.

A bell started ringing and all the kids stopped their games and started running inside. Esmeralda and Katrina stood up. Evelyn stood up and wondered what was going on.

"Eat time." Katrina said as she stated acting like she was eating a soup.

They grabbed Evelyn and started leading her inside. They walked into a large dining hall. There were kids everywhere and they would all take a seat wherever. Evelyn had seen groups of kids like this at school, but whenever it came time to eat, everyone would spilt up into their own little groups. Here, you would sit with whoever you felt like. There were no groups here.

Katrina and Esmeralda walked up to a counter and grabbed three bowls of food. They walked back to Evelyn and gave her one of the bowls. Evelyn looked at what kind of food they served her. It was white rice with sweet potatoes and carrots.

Evelyn followed Katrina and Esmeralda as they looked for an empty table to sit at. They found one and they both sat on either side of her. They felt so happy that Evelyn was here. "You stay here forever?" Esmeralda asked in her broken English.

Evelyn looked into Esmeralda's brown eyes. They were identical to Katrina's and hers. Evelyn could see how hopeful she was. She looked over to Katrina. Her eyes had the same hope. Evelyn closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to calm her heart and chest pain. "I don't know." Evelyn said as she began picking at her food. She didn't have much of an appetite, but she didn't want to be rude and not eat it.

Esmeralda frowned. "You leaving?"

Evelyn didn't know how to tell them. It was so amazing how fast she had fallen in love with these girls. Evelyn decided not to use words as she nodded her head. She kept her eyes focused on her plate of food.

These girls were so used to everyone leaving, and Evelyn was here just to do the same thing to them. Katrina and Esmeralda started eating their food. The mood had definitely been killed.

* * *

Clark looked over at the bright green numbers on the clock. It was two in the morning. Love had gone to bed after Josh left. Him and Lois stayed up for a little bit talking, but eventually, Lois had dozed off. He noticed that she seemed more tired than usual. He turned around on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her close. It was amazing how much comfort she could provide even if she was asleep.

He could hear her moan softly. She turned around in his arms. And opened her sleepy eyes. "Hey Smallville." Lois sounded completely out of it.

"Hey there Lo."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Don't lie to me." Lois said. She could see the internal struggle inside of him.

Clark smiled grimly. "You can always tell when I'm lying can't you?"

"From the first day." she said with a grin. Lois became serious after a few moments. "Clark, Evelyn's fine. Oliver talked with her. You and him are going to go get her in a few hours."

"I know. I just…it's beyond me why she would run away." Clark said.

Lois rolled her eyes. She sat up and turned on a lamp. "Clark, if I were Evelyn, I would've done the same thing. I probably would've done it much sooner!"

Clark sat up. "Lois! How could you say that?"

"It's the truth Clark. You have been so distant lately. You've never taken her out for a talk-"

"That's not true. I took her and Love to the Talon."

"Clark, I'm talking about it just being the two of you. She has been lacking in her Daddy-Daughter time."

"I've been so busy…" Clark ran his fingers through his hair.

"No, you've been finding things to do. If you ask me, I think you're avoiding this." Lois crossed her arms.

"I haven't! I just didn't realize how busy I could get with Superman duties."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Oh please Smallville! Don't use that as an excuse! You know very well that you could call somebody in from the Justice League and get them to cover for you for a few hours."

Clark tried his best not to yell at her. "I'm still trying to find a balance, Lois."

"Well you're taking too long, Clark. If you don't hurry up and find one, you're going to lose your kids." Lois put her hand on her stomach. "_All _of them. I know first hand what can happen when you have a distant father."

Clark started looking at his hands. "I never knew if I made the right decision going to train with Jor-el. I guess this answers my question." Clark said.

"No, Clark. That has got to be one of the best decisions you have ever made. I was so proud when you told me that, but do _not_ think that it was the wrong decision."

"But what about the kids?"

"It may have taken its toll on them, but that's why you need to sit down and talk with them. It's not that hard."

Clark nodded. "I'll start talking once we get Evelyn back."

* * *

Evelyn was getting really sleepy and it was only seven in the evening here. Jet lag really sucked. The entire day she had been playing with Katrina and Esmeralda. Other kids would join them, but then they would leave and start playing something else.

They ate dinner around five thirty and it was more rice with vegetables. Here at Bahay-Kalinga, they solely relied on donations. They hadn't received any meat donations in a while so they would only eat vegetables and rice.

Evelyn had seen Edna several times during the day and they had stopped and talked for a bit. Edna asked to make sure Evelyn called home and Evelyn confirmed it. Edna said that they could talk some more tomorrow. Evelyn needed her rest and Edna was running up and down the orphanage getting things done.

"You know Superman?" Esmeralda asked as she made a swooshing sound with her mouth.

They must've found out that she lived in Smallville, a town that was pretty close to Metropolis. "Yes."

Katrina's eyes went huge. They had never before met someone who _knew_ Superman. Katrina told Esmeralda something in Filipino and Esmeralda translated it as best as she could. "Katrina says have you saw him?"

Evelyn couldn't help but smile at the irony of it all. She saw him every day actually, in and out of uniform. "Lots of times."

The girls couldn't believe it. Evelyn smiled at their shocked expressions. It was pretty cool knowing that Superman was her dad, but it was also a pretty bad thing. He was never there anymore. Superman was starting to take first place.

"Superman good man." Esmeralda declared.

Evelyn smiled. "You're right." It was true, Superman just had a hard time getting his priorities in the right order.

* * *

Caleb ran down stairs and into the kitchen. It was seven in the morning on Saturday, yet Caleb insisted on getting up early. He loved watching the early morning cartoons.

When he got down stairs, he saw Love, Lois, and Clark already up and about. Love was sitting at the bar eating a small breakfast and Lois was making a cup of coffee. Caleb noticed that Clark had a bag with him. "Where are you going Daddy?"

The three of them looked up at Caleb. "I'm going to go bring Evelyn back home."

Caleb frowned. He thought that last night Evelyn did come home. "Where is she?"

"You don't need to worry about it." Lois said as she picked him up and sat him down on a stool.

Caleb didn't like it that they wouldn't tell him what was going on. He was old enough to know right? He soon forgot about it when Lois put a bowl of cereal in front of him.

Clark gave both Love and Caleb a kiss. "I'll be back. Don't worry." he walked out of the house and Lois was right behind him.

Lois gave Clark a tight hug. "Please be safe and bring Evelyn back." she whispered.

Clark placed his chin on the top of her head. "You know I'm always careful."

Lois smiled in his chest. "When you get home, though, I've got some news to tell you."

Clark looked at Lois with a worried expression. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing bad Smallville." she chuckled at how easily he could get worried.

Clark frowned. "Okay, if you say so."

Lois smirked. "I do say so."

Clark smiled and he gave her a kiss. "See you later Lois." he took off in a blur up in the sky.

Lois watched him fly away. "You too, fly boy." she said with a smirk.

* * *

Oliver looked at his watch. There were only five more minutes until he was going to have to take off. Clark was still not here. Where was he? Oliver knew that Clark could get here within a nanosecond, but he expected that he would be here an hour early.

A gust of wind blew in the jet and there was Clark, standing there and fixing his glasses. "You ready?"

"Yeah, just waiting on you." Oliver stood up and told the pilot that they were ready for take off.

Clark sat down and buckled up and started looking impatiently out the window. Oliver saw him bouncing his leg up and down. "You can chill out you know."

Clark looked at him and stopped his bouncing leg. "I can't help it. I just feel like we're wasting time."

"Clark, Evelyn was very specific with her requests." Oliver said as he grabbed a bottle of whiskey and offered a drink to Clark.

Clark took the glass and drank a small amount. For a moment he wished that he could be affected by alcohol. Maybe it would help with his nerves.

"How's Lois?" Oliver asked after he took a seat.

"Fine, why?"

"Well, she looked a little sick when we got there."

"She had just gotten through throwing up. She said that it was only because she had a bad lunch." "Has she thrown up anymore?"

"No. I tried to make sure she was okay, that she didn't catch a bug or something, but she insisted that she was fine."

Oliver sighed. Why were humans of the female race so difficult to deal with?

* * *

It was dark already, but the kids were still up and running around. Evelyn was now sleepier than she had ever been. She never felt this tired in her life. And on top of that, her chest had not stopped hurting since she'd gotten off the phone with Oliver.

The bell started ringing and all the kids dropped what they were doing. They started walking back inside the building.

Katrina and Esmeralda stood up and they brushed off their pants. "Sleep time." Esmeralda said as she and Katrina helped Evelyn up.

Evelyn smiled as they started walking towards the building. Edna was there ringing the bell persistently. She stopped when she saw Evelyn and the twins walking towards her.

Edna began speaking to Katrina and Esmeralda in Filipino and they nodded their heads. They gave Evelyn a quick hug and they started running into the building.

"Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?" Edna asked as she started walking.

Evelyn grimaced. Of course she hadn't thought about that. She was just so angry she hadn't thought about anything. "No. I kind of forgot about that detail."

"Okay. You can stay with me in my house." Edna said as she pointed to a small house. "My husband is out of town collecting donations from several organizations."

"Thank you so much Edna. I hope I'm not imposing." Evelyn said.

"Not at all honey." Edna pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door to the house. "I actually get kind of lonely when my husband leaves."

They walked in. It was a small house. Barely big enough for two people. "I have some blankets. You can sleep on the couch."

Evelyn nodded as she took a seat on the couch. Edna took a seat next to her.

"I think you've had enough time to think about what you've done." Edna told her. "I'm not going to bother you with questions about it either. I just need to be sure that someone can come to pick you up."

"Yeah, Clark and my uncle are going to come."

Edna nodded. "Okay. So how do you like Katrina and Esmeralda?"

"I love them! I can't believe that they're my little sisters. They're just so sweet and amazing."

Edna smiled at her enthusiasm. "Esmeralda is the one that knows the most English, but Katrina's the more talkative one."

Evelyn smiled as she thought about them. "I wish I could take them home with me."

Edna smiled along with her. "That would be wonderful for you to have your sisters there with you in the States."

Evelyn nodded. "I'm pretty tired right now. Could I go to bed?"

"No problem honey." Edna said as she got up. "I'll get you some blankets."

* * *

Clark opened his eyes. He didn't realize that he had fallen asleep. He looked over at Oliver. He was on his laptop looking something up. "Oliver, what time is?"

Oliver looked up then looked to the time on the computer. "It's eight at night back in Smallville. So in the Philippines it should be…" Oliver did a little math in his head before he answered. "Nine on Sunday morning."

"Are we almost there?"

"Yeah, about thirty more minutes." Oliver turned back to his computer. "You were asleep for a while. Did you not sleep?"

"Sort of. Me and Lois stayed up for a little bit just talking, but then she fell asleep. I couldn't really fall asleep. I'd say around five was when I finally crashed."

Oliver grimaced. He knew for a fact that Clark must've gotten up at six, so really he only had an hours rest. Oliver would _not_ be able to do that. Maybe when he was younger, but not anymore. He was starting to get up there in age, they all were. The only one that didn't seem to be affected by time was Clark. Oliver couldn't help but wonder if Clark could ever die. He thought of Eversor and knew that it was a huge possibility.

Oliver's computer played a little tune to let him know he received an e-mail. Oliver looked at the title. It was something concerning the Daily Planet. Oliver closed it. He could look at it later.

* * *

Evelyn stepped out of the house. It was ten and the sun was shining brightly overhead. The scene was the same as yesterday. Children where everywhere and they were all playing. They led such care-free lives.

"Evelyn!"

Evelyn saw Katrina and Esmeralda running towards her with their arms spread out. They reached her and gave her a tight hug. "Morning." they both said.

"Good morning."

"You leave today?" Esmeralda asked with sad eyes.

Evelyn nodded her head. She really didn't want to go whenever she was around these two little girls. They were her sisters. It was still pretty mind blowing to her. She had biological sisters. It would always put a smile on her face.

Evelyn looked at the large clock that was on the main building. She knew that Clark and Oliver must've already landed and were now on their way. All Evelyn could do was make the most of the time she had right now.

* * *

Clark couldn't make his leg stop bouncing. They were only a few minutes from the orphanage. After landing at the airport, a black car picked them up. They needed to have security to make sure that no one would try and hurt Oliver, even though no one knew about this trip. Clark thought it was a waste of time and he knew Oliver thought the same thing. Oliver could probably end up protecting himself better than the security guards. "Are we there yet?" Clark asked impatiently.

Oliver turned and looked at his friend. There were only a few times that he had seen Clark this impatient. One, his and Lois' first date. Lois didn't show up for two hours, but only because she had somehow gotten herself into trouble. Two, when Lois was in labor with Caleb and they asked Clark to wait outside until Caleb finally started coming out. Now Oliver could add this to the list. "Yes, Clark. We're almost there. You can stop bouncing your leg."

Clark did what Oliver said, but then he started tapping his finger on the arm rest while looking out the tinted window.

Oliver rolled his eyes. This was going to get annoying fast. The driver finally stopped. "We're here sir." he said over the intercom.

Clark didn't wait a moment longer. He stepped out of the car and into the bright sunlight. Oliver followed after him. The car went off in search of a parking spot.

Clark smiled at the familiar sight of the orphanage. The last time he was here was when he came to pick Evelyn up. He remembered that happy day like it was yesterday.

"You ready?" Oliver asked Clark.

Clark looked over to Oliver. "Of course."

They walked through the open gate. There were so many kids here, Oliver and Clark just couldn't believe it. Clark looked over every kid, looking specifically for his bud. "Oliver, I can't find her…" Clark said as he started breathing heavily.

"Clark, calm down. We haven't even gone inside. I'm sure she's around here somewhere."

"Is that Mr. Clark Kent?" called out a woman's voice from behind them.

The two men turned around and saw Edna standing there with a small child hugging her leg and three others standing around her.

Clark smiled. "Edna, it's good to see you again." Clark said as he walked towards her and gave her a hug. "How's everything?"

"Oh they are going good. Who's your friend?"

"This is Oliver Queen." Clark said as he introduced him.

"It's a pleasure meeting you Edna." Oliver said as he turned his charm on.

Edna frowned. "Oliver Queen? As in the owner of Queen Industries and STAR Labs?"

"The one and only." Oliver said. He didn't know if Edna was going to like him because of his status as a billionaire.

Edna took his hand and shook it. "Then it's a great pleasure meeting you Mr. Queen. I didn't know you knew Clark."

"Yeah, we've been friends for a while."

Edna nodded. "Well, I'm sure that you're both anxious to see Evelyn."

"Yes." Clark said eagerly. "Where is she?"

"She's inside with the girls." Edna started walking off and Clark and Oliver followed her. They walked inside the main building and there was Evelyn sitting with several girls around her. She was brushing their unruly hair.

"Evelyn, there's some people here to see you." Edna said getting her attention.

Evelyn turned around and saw Oliver and Clark. She could feel the pain in her chest rising when she saw Clark. She stood up and started walking towards them leaving the girls alone. "Hi." she said awkwardly.

Clark didn't care how awkward it might be for her, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. "My bud. You have no idea how much you scared all of us! How could you do something like that?" Clark was now holding onto her by her shoulders.

Evelyn looked away. "I don't know."

Two girls that were identical came up and tugged on Evelyn. "Who?" one of them asked.

Evelyn looked down at them. "My dad." she told them.

They both smiled and hugged Clark for a few moments. They let go of him and walked off.

Clark was a bit surprised and shocked. "Who were they?"

Evelyn watched them walk off and then she looked back to Clark and Oliver. She had a huge smile on her face. It had been a while since she smiled like that. "They are my biological sisters."

Oliver smiled, glad that he got to see them while Clark raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. Edna told me that their mom was my mom too."

Clark smiled. He knew that there was a reason why he fell in love with those two girls immediately.

"About that, I need to talk with your dad for a minute." Edna said as she started pulling Clark aside. She left Oliver with Evelyn and the girls. The two of them sat down. Evelyn handed him a brush and insisted that he start brushing some hair. He shrugged his shoulders and did as Evelyn commanded. If there was a camera, that picture would make a great black mail material.

Clark faced Edna when they stepped outside. "Is everything all right?"

"Something happened with Evelyn, and the twins mother."

"What?"

"She died about two years ago from CAD. It's Coronary Artery Disease. She also had diabetes."

Clark frowned. "That's terrible."

"Before she died, she worked here. The doctors told me that her children could inherit the disease. We took Katrina and Esmeralda to the doctor to see if they had it. Thankfully, they didn't."

"So everything's all right?"

Edna sighed and she leaned in. "There's a large possibility that Evelyn might have it. Before their mother passed away, she told me that their father had diabetes also."

"Evelyn couldn't have a disease."

"Are you sure? She hasn't been looking sick or anything?" Clark thought a moment. Come to think of it, Evelyn was looking pale and sick in general. "Evelyn just can't have it. She can't."

"You should take her to a doctor once you get back."

Clark nodded. "I'll be sure."

"I'm sure you're anxious to take Evelyn back home." she said as she patted his back.

Clark nodded. "Yeah, we were all pretty worried about her."

They walked inside and Clark saw Evelyn laughing and playing with Katrina and Esmeralda. She looked so happy. He knew that once he brought Evelyn back home, she was going to be sad. She wouldn't be around her sisters anymore. Clark knew that if he ever found out that he had a sibling, he'd want to welcome them into his life too. Heck, that was what he did with Kara. And those twins just looked so precious and sweet. Clark really didn't want to leave either.

He turned and faced Edna. "How long would it take to adopt _two_ children?"

Edna smiled. "I knew you were going to ask that question." she looked over at the twins then faced Clark again. "It would take about the same amount of time. Two to three months."

Clark nodded. It may have been a spur of the moment, but he felt it was the right decision. "I would like to adopt Katrina and Esmeralda."

* * *

Evelyn sighed as she sat in the seat of Oliver's jet. Clark was sitting across from her and Oliver was in the cock pit with the pilot. He assumed that their was going to be some kind of yelling going on between Evelyn and Clark that he didn't want to be a part of.

Having to leave the orphanage was the hardest thing Evelyn ever had to do. Seeing Katrina and Esmeralda crying like that, it gave her chills every time she thought about it. She was starting to feel angry with Clark and even Oliver for coming to get her. Sure she had asked them too, but she was just feeling very moody right now. It would be better for all of them if they just left her alone.

Evelyn started blaming herself for her own misery. She _was_ the one that decided to run away to the Philippines. No one made her go back to the orphanage. It was her own dang fault, right? She rubbed her eyes as she tried sorting out all her thoughts.

Clark didn't seem to understand that she needed some space as he sat down next to her. "Hey bud."

Evelyn didn't respond. She stared out the window instead.

Clark sighed. "Look, I know you didn't want to leave, especially about finding out about your two sisters-"

"How would you feel if you had to leave the only remains of your family behind, most likely never to see them again?" Evelyn snapped while ignoring the rising pain in her chest. "You should understand. What about when you found Aunt Kara. You wanted her to stay in your life because she was your only connection to Krypton. Well those girls were my only connection to my biological parents."

"I know. That's why I'm starting up the process of adopting them both." Clark said, careful not to raise his voice.

Evelyn looked at Clark with her jaw completely slack. "Are you serious?"

Clark nodded.

Evelyn giggled as she threw her arms around him "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Clark was a bit surprised. It had been a while since Evelyn hugged him like this. He enjoyed it though as he wrapped his arms around her too.

Evelyn let go of Clark and looked at him with a serious face. "I'm sorry I ran away." she admitted quietly.

Clark gave her a half smile. "While it was still a horrible thing to do, it's okay."

Evelyn was now confused. Was he actually saying it was okay? "What?"

"There's something that you don't know about me either…" Clark said as he looked down at his clasped hands. Evelyn waited for him to continue. "When I was in High School, I ran away too. For three months, I was living in Metropolis and living a pretty crazy life."

"But what about your parents?"

Clark chuckled grimly. "They were pretty upset. But they didn't push me to come home. I had some stuff that I needed to sort out. What I guess I'm trying to say is that if there's anything that _you_ need to sort out in your head, you can always come to me or your mom." Clark stared straight into her eyes.

Evelyn couldn't handle him looking in her eyes like that. She averted her gaze and stared at the ground.

"Evelyn?" Clark knew that she was bottling something up, but was refusing to let it out. "What are you thinking?"

Evelyn breathed out shakily. "It's just…" Evelyn's faced scrunched up in pain as her hand gripped her chest. It was hurting so bad. She inhaled sharply. Everything was starting to get fuzzy and dark.

"Evelyn? Evelyn, what's wrong?" Clark asked as he grabbed her shoulders.

Evelyn tried to breath normally. Why couldn't she? This time was worse than any other she could remember.

"Oliver, get in here!" Clark yelled.

Oliver quickly emerged from the cock pit. "What's going on?"

"I don't know! Have you got some medicine?" Clark asked in a rush.

Oliver started going through his drawers before he found some pain killers. "Here, but what's wrong with Evelyn?"

Clark ignored Oliver for the moment and crushed the pills into fine powder and he dropped it into a glass of water. He handed the glass to Evelyn and she drank it slowly, her hands shaking as she held the glass.

Evelyn seemed to have found her breath and she started inhaling and exhaling deeply. "I'm good."

"Evelyn, what was that?" Clark asked in a firm, but gentle voice.

"Nothing." she tried brushing it under the rug.

Clark turned around and looked at Oliver. "Do you know any doctors that are open for appointments on Sunday?"

"I'm not going to a hospital to see a doctor!" Evelyn exclaimed.

The two men ignored her. "The only one I can possibly think of is Alfred."

"I'm sorry Oliver, but we need to take Evelyn to see Alfred." Clark said.

Oliver nodded. "I understand. After that ordeal, I'd do the same thing."

"I am not going to go see Alfred. I don't need to see any kind of doctor!" Evelyn continued declaring. She wasn't being heard though.

Oliver went into the cock pit and told the pilot the new directions. Clark pulled out his cell phone and began dialing a number, not taking notice of Evelyn's yelling.

"Hello?! I am not going to see anyone! I'm fine!" Clark finally turned to look at Evelyn. "You are going to go wherever I tell you to go." Clark said in a deep voice.

His voice scared Evelyn for a moment, but she regained her confidence. "No. I'm not going."

"Evelyn, I'm not going to argue with you on this. You're going, end of discussion." Clark said coldly as he stood up and walked away.

Evelyn stifled a yell of frustration and instead let it growl out. She could hear Clark talking on the phone with Bruce. He really was going to make her do it, no matter how she felt on the matter.

Evelyn slouched in her seat and resumed to looking out the window. They had been making such progress, but then something like this happens. She hated her life.

* * *

Bruce hung up the phone after speaking with Clark. It seemed like he had been busy. He was about to get up to tell Alfred about Evelyn, but he noticed that he had a new e-mail. He had time so he opened it to see what it was. It was something concerning the Daily Planet.

Bruce really didn't need to deal with any problems they were having right now, but he read the e-mail. By the end of the message, Bruce was speechless. This couldn't be true. It said that some anonymous buyer had just bought the Daily Planet from him and Oliver. This couldn't be possible, they didn't even put the Daily Planet up on the market! How could something like this happen? The only way he could explain it was someone manipulated it.

* * *

a/n: enjoy this chapter. it was kind of hard to get it out. let me know if it was good or bad. i know that it needed more clois. the next chapter is definitely going to get clois. leave your comments please!


	15. News

News

Lois was in the barn helping Caleb groom the horses. Love was out repairing another fence. "Mommy?" Caleb asked tentatively.

"Yeah guy?"

"When's Daddy gonna come home with Evelyn?"

Lois sighed. Just a few minutes ago she had gotten off the phone with Clark. They were taking Evelyn to Bruce's so she could get checked out by Alfred. He told her what had happened to her on the plane and also about Evelyn's mom, Maria, and her disease. Lois hoped that Evelyn was healthy right now at this moment and would stay healthy for the rest of her life. "He said that he was going to come home soon."

"Oh." Caleb was silent for a little bit before he spoke again. "Why did Evelyn run away? Does she not like us anymore?"

"Sweetie, Evelyn loves everyone here very much. She just…" Lois didn't know how to explain this to him. "Evelyn wanted to go see where she was born." Lois put it simply.

Caleb frowned. "What do you mean?" he knew Evelyn was adopted, he just didn't know from where.

"She wasn't born here." Lois set down the brush and she picked Caleb up, making sure that she had his undivided attention. "She was actually born on these islands called the Philippines."

Caleb's hazel eyes widened in surprise. "You mean she wasn't born here?" Caleb had always known that Evelyn was adopted, he just didn't know that she wasn't born here.

"Nope."

Caleb thought a moment. An idea struck him. "So that means that she's special too, just like me and Love!"

Lois chuckled. "Evelyn has always been special and so have you. Now go find Love. Tell her I'm going to the store to buy some stuff to make a cake."

Caleb grimaced. Lois couldn't cook worth a flip and Caleb knew this. If only Lois would accept it...

* * *

Clark held a tight grip on Evelyn's shoulder as they stood in front of Wayne Manor waiting for the door to be opened. Oliver had decided it was time to head back to Star City. He was trying his best to avoid any emotional explosions. He was actually ready to deal with physical explosions though. Maybe when he got back to Star City he would suit up and do some patrolling.

Evelyn tried shrugging Clark's oversized hand off, but he had such a tight grip. It wasn't strong enough to hurt, but it wasn't light enough to shrug off. "I really don't want to be here. I'd rather go back to the farm and see everyone. Besides, don't we have that stupid court thing to go to tomorrow?" Evelyn complained.

Clark had completely forgotten about the court deal. They _had_ to go. "We are going to find out why your chest started hurting like that first, then we'll go home."

Evelyn scoffed and rolled her eyes. It was taking forever for them to open the door. Finally, Alfred came and opened it. "Evelyn, Master Clark, how are you two?" he asked.

Evelyn tired hard not to smirk at his accent. It was just so cool. If she hadn't been born in the Philippines, then she would've definitely wanted to be born in England. "Hey Alfred." Evelyn said.

"Sorry to bother you, but we really need to know what's going on." Clark said. He gently nudged Evelyn inside once Alfred opened the door wide enough for them.

"It's perfectly all right. Master Bruce isn't here right now. He's away on 'business.'"

Clark nodded his understanding at the double meaning of business. "Where do you want us?"

"I was actually hoping we could do it in the Bat Cave. I have most of my equipment down there." Alfred said.

Evelyn felt like she was about to get experimented on. She didn't like that feeling. She knew that it was just Alfred, but she couldn't shake the feeling. Alfred started walking and Clark gently nudged her again. Evelyn rolled her eyes as she walked after Alfred. She didn't know if she was going to like this Bat Cave. She had heard stories about, but had never seen it for herself.

They continued walking until they came to a grandfather clock. Clark helped Alfred push it aside and there was an elevator. They stepped inside of it and Evelyn could feel a hint of claustrophobia kicking in. It reminded her of the time she had to hide in that small box from Lex. She shuddered as she pushed the thought aside.

The doors slid open to reveal a cave with a bunch of computers. Evelyn didn't like the way it looked, not one bit. It was a complete reminder of that room they had been locked in at the Luthor Mansion.

Clark and Alfred stepped off the elevator and waited for Evelyn. "Come on, bud. We don't have all night." Clark said.

"No." Evelyn said in a quiet voice.

"What?"

"I don't want to." she said in a louder voice.

Clark was starting to get a little embarrassed by her behavior. "Evelyn, get off the elevator."

Evelyn only backed inside more. "No…" her voice was starting to sound scared.

Clark sighed. "Please Evelyn. Do not make you pull you out."

Alfred was watching Evelyn. He seemed to notice the scared expression on her face. For a moment, he wondered why Clark didn't seem to care. "Evelyn, why don't you want to come in?" he asked, taking a more gentle approach.

Evelyn looked to Alfred, thankful that he stepped in. "It reminds me of something…" she said vaguely.

"And I'm assuming this is something bad?" Evelyn only nodded her head.

"All right then. Clark, you can take her back upstairs. I'll get some stuff and be up there in a moment."

Clark looked at Alfred. "Are you sure?" he didn't want to make a big hassle.

Alfred nodded. "Go ahead."

Clark stepped back on the elevator and it started going up. Evelyn could literally feel Clark's disappointment radiating off of him. "I'm sorry." she mumbled.

Clark turned to look at her. "Evelyn, what is your deal? I'm really trying to make an effort here, but you keep shutting everyone out, especially me. Why didn't you want to go inside?"

"I don't want to talk about it." she mumbled. Her voice wasn't going to go above a whisper right now.

Clark shook his head. "Whatever Evelyn." after that statement, Clark didn't say anything until the ride was done. They both stepped off and waited for Alfred. It was such an awkward time for them both, but neither would admit it.

Alfred came back up a few minutes later with some medical supplies in his arms. "All right Evelyn. We can do this in the tea room."

"Can I be in there?" Clark asked before Alfred could walk away.

Alfred looked at Clark then to Evelyn. He could see on her face that she didn't want him around at the moment. "I think it would be best if you would just wait outside." he said as nicely as he could.

Clark nodded and watched them walk ahead without him.

Alfred opened the door for Evelyn and they walking in the tea room. It was a small room with just three couches and a small coffee table. Evelyn took a seat and Alfred started checking her vitals.

Evelyn didn't understand why she was doing this. Nothing was wrong with her. She was perfectly healthy. Besides, even if she was sick she would never admit it unless they put her in the hospital and pronounced her an invalid.

Alfred began frowning as he continued his examination. Something wasn't right. "Evelyn, would it be okay if I took a blood sample?"

"Why do you need one?" she knew that taking a blood sample wasn't usually part of the normal examination.

"Just to be sure of something." Alfred could see that she was hesitant about it. "It will only be a little prick, nothing serious."

Evelyn sighed. "Okay. Do you need to take it from my finger or arm?"

"Your arm would be best." he said as he grabbed the necessary things.

Evelyn stretched out her arm. Alfred grabbed a cotton ball with alcohol on it and began rubbing it on her. He grabbed a rubber strip and tied it just above her elbow. He pulled out a needle with a vial attached to it. "You're going to feel a slight pinch…" Alfred warned before he poked the needle through her skin.

Evelyn inhaled sharply as the needle pierced her skin. She forced her breathing to calm down as the blood was being drawn.

Alfred pulled out the needle once the vial was sufficiently filled. He untied the rubber strip and put a bandage on the slight hole in her skin. Alfred looked at the blood in the vial and shook it lightly. "I'm going to examine this blood and you should get some kind of results by tomorrow."

Evelyn smiled. "Thanks Alfred." she stood up and walked to the door.

Alfred followed her and grabbed the door knob. Before he turned it, he looked at her. "You need to tell your father why you didn't want to go into the Bat Cave."

Evelyn looked down at the ground. "I don't know if I could ever do that?"

"Why not?"

"Because it hurts to talk about it."

Alfred put his hand on her shoulder. "But it always gets better after you tell someone."

Evelyn looked up into his eyes. He was really being honest here. "I still don't know."

Alfred pat her shoulder. "Well, that's all I'll say on this matter. Now let's go find your father. I'm sure he's quite worried about you."

They walked out of the room and saw Clark pacing at the end of the hall. Clark lifted his head once he heard them step out of the room. He walked towards them and met them half way. "So is everything all right?"

"Yes, but I took a blood sample-"

"What? Why? Is there something wrong with her? Is she going to be all right? You said that she was fine!" Clark blurted out.

Alfred put up his hand to ease his excitement. "I took a blood sample, just to be certain that there was nothing wrong in her blood or maybe something else inside her body. Evelyn should be fine. I'll get the results to you tomorrow."

Clark gave both Alfred and Evelyn a worried look. "If you say so. Thanks Alfred."

"Not at all."

"Come on Evelyn. We've got to get you home." Clark said as he lead her outside.

* * *

The oven timer went off and Lois quickly stood up. She put on her oven mitts and pulled out her attempt at baking. She looked at the lopsided cake. It was worse than the one she baked for Clark on his twentieth birthday. Love walked in with Ella and Josh. They all looked at the cake Lois had set down on the counter.

Love scrunched up her face while Ella and Josh tried being polite. "What's that supposed to be?" Love asked.

Lois gave her a pointed look. "It's _supposed_ to be a cake."

"Really?" Josh added.

Lois rolled her eyes as she grabbed the cake and threw it in the trashcan. "Okay, so I can't cook. Sue me!"

Ella smiled. "Don't worry Mrs. Kent. My mom sent me with a cake. She didn't know if you'd be able to cook one." she went outside to retrieve it.

Josh and Love chuckled silently to themselves while Lois washed the pan where the offending cake once was.

"So when's Dad and Evelyn supposed to be back?" Love asked as she took a seat.

"In a little bit." Lois said. She hadn't told them about Clark taking Evelyn for a quick check-up. They didn't need to worry about it if there wasn't anything truly wrong with her.

"Mommy!" Caleb called up from the top of the stairs.

"What is it guy?" Lois called back.

"I'm hungry and bored. When are we going to eat?"

Lois sighed. "Once they get home."

Caleb frowned. "But I'm hungry right now!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Caleb, do not raise your voice." Lois said sternly.

Ella walked in at the wrong moment. "I have the cake! It's strawberry. Evelyn's favorite." she held the cake in her hands.

"I want cake!" Caleb yelled.

"Could you guys wait outside?" Lois asked Love, Ella, and Josh as politely as she could.

They all nodded their heads and quickly left the scene. Lois looked up to Caleb who was standing at the top of the stairs looking very red. "Caleb, what is the matter with you?" she asked as she started walking up the steps.

"I said I was hungry! Didn't you hear me?!" he replied in a sarcastic tone.

Lois groaned. Was this what her dad had to put up with? If so, how did he do it? "Caleb, stop yelling this instant or else I'm going to take you into your room and give you a spanking."

"So! It won't even hurt!"

"Caleb Joseph Kent, go to your room this instant!" Lois ordered, finally raising her voice.

"No!"

The door opened and slammed shut. Clark and Evelyn came in. Evelyn looked really upset while Clark looked annoyed. Lois turned around and while she noticed their expressions, she was just glad to see that Evelyn was back home and safe. Lois started walking down the stairs, ready to embrace her. "Evelyn! Thank goodness-"

Caleb interrupted her. "Daddy, Mommy won't give me food and she said that she was going to give me a spanking!" he yelled.

Lois stopped and looked at Caleb. Sure he had thrown his temper tantrums, more than Love ever had, but this was a whole new level.

"Lois, why didn't you feed him? He's a growing child and needs his food." Clark said.

"It's not like you forgot to feed me several times when I was a 'growing' child." Evelyn mumbled out as she sat on a stool. She started rubbing her face. She looked worn out along with being upset.

"Evelyn, if you're not going to be helping, then leave." Clark said a bit loudly.

Evelyn rolled her eyes as she stood up and walked out. She made sure the door slammed shut.

"Clark, what was that all about?" Lois asked. Their was definitely tension going on.

"Nothing."

"I'm still hungry!" Caleb yelled.

"Come here and _I'll_ feed you." Clark called out.

Lois gave Clark an incredulous look. "Clark, he was yelling at me. I do not take yelling from any of the kids."

"He was probably yelling because you didn't feed him for the entire day!"

"Oh, don't you dare start with me Kent! I stayed here at home with Love and Caleb, getting ready for tonight so Evelyn could have a nice welcome back home and here you are accusing me of not feeding them!"

"Lois, I don't want to deal with this right now." Clark said tensely.

"So is this problem just going to go on the list of things you 'don't wasn't to deal with at the moment?'"

"Drop it Lois!"

"No Clark! You're family needs to be dealt with _now_, not later. You may have forgotten how to raise a family, but I haven't. You are going to sit down with all three of them and talk with them!"

"I don't have the time Lois!"

"Clark Kent you are the most intolerable, stubborn…" Lois stopped her yelling when she heard sniffling.

Clark waited for her to continue, but he heard it too. They forgot about Caleb.

Lois didn't give Clark another look as she ran up the stairs and pulled Caleb in for a tight hug. Clark followed her lead and he pulled them both into his arms.

"Shh, it's okay. Stop crying." Lois eased.

"But you and Daddy were fighting!" he sobbed out.

"It's okay guy. Grown-ups fight a lot." Clark said.

"But when a mommy and daddy fight, they get a divorce!"

"Sweetie, we are _not_ going to get divorced. We just had a little disagreement." Lois said.

"Yeah. I still love your mommy very, very much. Nothing could _ever _make me leave her." Clark said.

Lois smiled at Clark's word, but she hid it from him in Caleb's hair. "He's right you know. That's how I figured out Love's name. I loved your daddy so much, I wanted to name his first baby girl Love."

Caleb looked up at them both. "Are you telling the truth?"

Clark smiled. "Of course we are. Do you want me to prove it?"

Caleb nodded.

Clark's smile only got wider as he leaned in and gave Lois a sweet lover's kiss.

They pulled apart and they both had goofy grins on their face. "Eww! I believe you now." Caleb said as he squirmed out of their arms.

Lois and Clark chuckled as Caleb ran down stairs. He went out the door to find Evelyn. It was time to give her a huge hug.

"I'm sorry Lois for yelling at you." Clark said. They were still sitting at the top of the steps in each others arms.

"And I'm sorry for yelling too."

They stayed silent for a bit until Lois couldn't stand it anymore. "you know I really did feed him. He just got hungry again-"

"You don't have to explain, and I know that you did feed him. I just…I was frustrated."

Lois looked up at him with worry in her eyes. "Was everything with Evelyn all right?"

"I don't know. Alfred took a blood sample and said he'd give me the results tomorrow. I don't know if I should be worried though."

Lois frowned. She was getting worried about it too. "Let's hope everything is all right." she unwrapped herself from Clark's arms and stood up. "I'm going out to the barn and give Evelyn a hug too and you are going to apologize for yelling at her."

* * *

Evelyn walked into the barn and could hear laughter coming up from the loft. She saw Josh, Love, and Ella sitting on the couch looking through some pictures.

Evelyn really didn't know what to do. Whether she should go up there or just go somewhere else. She didn't doubt that Clark and Lois were still arguing.

She looked around the barn. This place held so many memories for her. Jumping in a hay pile when it was just her and Clark, having Caleb's first birthday in here, Love's daring feat of climbing up into the rafters to get a Frisbee Caleb had thrown up there, and then there was that one time with Clark, Love and Lana…She closed her eyes and started gasping for breath.

The trio at the top heard her. "Evelyn?" Love called out, not sure if it was her.

Evelyn caught her breath and started climbing the stairs. "Hey guys."

They all stood up and gave her tight hugs. "Evelyn! I can't believe you did that!" Ella said with a smile on her face. "You were the first one out of us to leave the country!" Evelyn smiled. "It was pretty cool knowing that."

"Evelyn, you had me so scared! How could you do that?" Josh exclaimed as he looked her over to make sure that she was all right.

Evelyn rolled her eyes and ignored his question. "The Philippines was really nice. You won't believe what I found out!" Evelyn exclaimed.

"What is it?" Love asked.

"I have two little sisters and they are twins." Evelyn said with the hugest smile on her face.

"Oh my gosh that's so amazing!" both Ella and Love showed their excitement for Evelyn by squealing.

Josh only smiled as he thought of two miniature Evelyn's running around.

"Evelyn!" they head Caleb exclaiming as he ran up the steps. He gave Evelyn a huge hug and nearly knocked her over. "I missed you! Where did you go? Did you meet new people? Can I go with you next time? Did you bring me anything? Do you have some food?"

They all started laughing at the amount of questions Caleb was asking. "How about I answer those questions after we eat. I'm pretty hungry right now." Evelyn said as she messed with his black hair.

They all agreed that it was a good idea and they started walking inside.

"Mom, what are we going to eat?" Love called out once they were in.

Lois was walking down stairs. "Evelyn!" she exclaimed as she ran down the rest of the way. Lois pulled Evelyn into a tight hug. "Sweetie, you have no idea how much I was worried about you!"

Evelyn smiled as she wrapped her arms around Lois. "I'm sorry." she mumbled out.

Lois smiled also. "It's all right. Besides, one of these days I'm going to have to tell you the story about when your dad ran away."

Evelyn looked up at Lois with a grin. "I can't wait to hear that."

"Mommy, I'm really super hungry." Caleb groaned out.

"All right, your Nana came by and left some meatloaf for us." Lois said as she headed to the refrigerator.

Evelyn felt her stomach churning at the thought of meatloaf. As much as she loved Martha's cooking, meatloaf just didn't sound very good right now. "You know what. I lost my appetite. I'm going to go upstairs." Evelyn said as she passed them.

Evelyn smiled and she started walking up the stairs.

"Don't forget that you have to go with me to court." Clark said before she could reach the top.

Evelyn paused and she gave Clark a pointed look. "I didn't forget." the rest of the way, she stomped up and slammed the door behind her.

Lois sighed as she took away Caleb's plate of cake and served him some real food. "You're going to start with Evelyn once you get back from the court. And you didn't even apologize to her!" she said to Clark. Lois put some meatloaf on a plate with some potatoes and handed it to Caleb. Love, Ella, and Josh were serving themselves a plate. The awkward tension was real thick.

Clark looked at Lois eating some food off of Caleb's plate. "Um, Lois, we have to talk."

Lois looked up at him with a sparkle in her eyes. She took another forkful from Caleb's plate. "We sure do. Let's go outside."

Clark grabbed Lois' hand and they both walked outside. They took a seat on the porch swing.

"All right Smallville. I've got some news to tell you."

"And so do I."

Lois frowned. The last time he had news like this, he said that he was going to leave to go train. Lois really hoped that it wasn't something equally as bad. "Who goes first?"

"How about you?"

"Okay," Lois smiled. "I found out that I'm pregnant!"

"Pregnant?!" Clark repeated with a smile. "Lois, that's so amazing!" Clark gave Lois a hug with a grin that spread from ear to ear.

Lois giggled. "I don't think that you'll be able to predict the baby's gender this time."

Clark laughed heartily. "Oh Lois! This is incredible! I can't believe this!"

"It's happening Clark." Lois said with a smile. She let go of Clark. "Now what was your big news."

Clark didn't know how Lois was going to take the news that he had. "At the orphanage, Evelyn found out that she has two little sisters. They're both eight and they're twins."

"Clark, that's so great!" Lois said.

Clark grimaced slightly. He still had to tell her the rest. "And when I saw them, they were just the most beautiful girls and Evelyn looked so happy when she was with them."

Lois didn't know where this was going. "And…?"

"And, I talked with one of the directors at the orphanage and…I started the process of adopting them both."

Lois didn't know which emotion to display on her face. She was happy, but confused, and a little upset that he didn't talk with her about it first, but she was still so happy. "Two little eight year old girls?"

Clark didn't know how Lois was feeling. Her expression was blank. "Yes. Are you mad?"

Lois finally snapped out of it. "Mad? Are you kidding? Two little girls that get to be adopted! This is great!" Reality started kicking in though. "Clark, did you even think about where they're going to stay?"

"Yeah, I can just build another room. That's one of the great things about living on a farm. You can expand as much as you want."

"Okay, so you'll build _two_ rooms?"

"Two?"

"Yes. One for the twins and one for the new baby? Unless you were planning on having Caleb share his room."

"If it's a boy, Caleb can share rooms, but if it's a girl, I'll build another room."

"What about the cost? That's six kids we're going to have to feed." Lois stood up and started pacing.

Clark stood up also and grabbed her gently by her shoulders. "Lois, I thought of everything. I can get another job if being a reporter and farmer won't be enough. I could even sell a small piece of land."

Lois looked up at Clark. He was so willing to do anything for his family. "Would you be able to balance two jobs, farm chores, Superman, _and_ being a dad?"

Clark sighed. He knew that he was still having trouble adjusting, but he was going to make an even bigger effort. "I'm already working on it." he said as he put his hand on Lois' flat stomach. He couldn't wait. This was going to be the first time that he was going to be there. To see the first time for everything. He smiled. Six kids, he just couldn't get over it. There were definitely going to be a lot of adventures going on.

* * *

Bruce paced around in Oliver's office. His secretary said that Oliver was supposed to be here in a few minutes. It _had_ only been a few minutes, but it felt like hours to him.

The door opened and Oliver walked in looking really tired and worn out. "Bruce? What are you doing here?"

"Have you received any e-mails about the Daily Planet?"

Oliver thought a moment then remembered when he glanced at it on the plane. "Yeah, why?"

"Did you even open it?"

"No, I didn't think that it was important."

Bruce sighed as he stopped pacing. "Someone bought us out."

Oliver looked at him very confused. "What?"

"We don't own the Daily Planet anymore. Someone else does."

"But how did that happen? It wasn't even for sale!"

"I don't know! It may have been manipulated, but I don't know how."

"Who bought it?"

"I don't know. It's an anonymous buyer."

Oliver started rubbing his head as he plopped down in a couch. "Do you have any idea who it could be."

"The only person I can think of is Lex."


	16. Truth

Truth

Evelyn walked down the steps the next morning. She was wearing suit pants with a nice blouse. She didn't forget about her court date. Everyone was already eating their breakfast at the table.

"Hey Evelyn. What do you want for breakfast?" Lois asked as she stood up and grabbed a clean plate. "You can have either eggs or waffles. Don't worry, I didn't make anything." Lois said with a reassuring smile.

"I'm not really hungry. I think I'll just make some toast really quick."

Clark stood up. He was dressed in a suit complete with a tie. On the counter were his glasses that he always wore outside the house. "Evelyn, you need to eat something. I don't know how long we're going to be in court."

Evelyn sighed. She was going to have to look at Lex Luthor's face again. "I'll just bring a snack with me."

"You can't bring food in there." Clark told her.

Clark was being so difficult. Why couldn't he just go with it? Evelyn was about to snap something out, but Lois intervened.

"Evelyn, why don't I make you a milkshake. You could even eat a banana with it."

Evelyn looked to Lois. "Thanks." she walked to the table and sat down.

"Why do you have to go to court?" Caleb asked.

"None of your business." Evelyn mumbled out.

Caleb frowned. He didn't like it when he wasn't allowed to know. They didn't think that he was old enough to understand. He probably wasn't, but he still wanted to hear some kind of explanation. "Why can't I know?"

Love stepped in. "It's a bunch of messy older people stuff. You _don't_ want to know."

Caleb liked Love's explanation better and started eating again.

Lois placed two pieces of toast and a milkshake in front of Evelyn. Lois took a seat and began eating. Clark came and sat next to Lois. Lois leaned over and started whispering in Clark's ear.

"When are you planning on apologizing to Evelyn?" Lois said.

Clark began whispering along with her. "After court."

Lois gave Clark a look, but he just shrugged his shoulders. Clark looked up to the clock. "Evelyn, we've got to go. Lois, I'm going to take the truck."

"Okay. I'll just use the car."

"Come on Evelyn. Let's go."

Evelyn stayed glued to her chair as she ran his words through her head. It was time to go. "I can't." she breathed out.

Clark sighed. "Evelyn, you have to."

Evelyn started breathing heavily. "I can't." she repeated.

"What's wrong?" Love asked. Evelyn's breathing was starting to get irregular.

"Here, why don't you drink some water." Lois said as she got up to give her a glass.

"We have to hurry. We're going to be late." Clark said as he looked at the clock impatiently. He didn't want to waste any time. This was Lex's chance to get free and Clark didn't need that to happen. None of them did.

"Clark, let's get Evelyn to calm down first." Lois said as she gave Evelyn the glass.

Evelyn drank it greedily and tried calming her breathing.

"Maybe you should take her to the doctor." Caleb said.

Evelyn looked up wide-eyed. "No! I don't want to go. I'm fine." she said as she stood up. She could've swore the room spun around, but she didn't let it show. "I'm going." she said as she grabbed a sweater.

Clark looked at her with a worried expression, but he went along with it. He gave Lois a kiss and lightly rubbed her stomach. He went to Caleb and Love and gave them their good bye kisses. He grabbed his glasses and slipped them on. He walked out the door heading to the truck.

Evelyn sighed as she followed him. She was going to have to lie today. She was going to commit perjury.

* * *

Evelyn looked out at the jurors. They all seemed like nice people and would choose the right decision. She looked at Lex Luthor. He seemed so smug sitting in his chair with a new suit on.

"Evelyn Kent, do you sweat to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" asked the police holding the Bible.

Evelyn's hand was laid flat on it. She was going to break a swear against God. Could she even do it? She gulped as she gave her answer. "Yes."

The police nodded as he took her hand and helped her onto the witness stand. Lex's lawyer started walking around the floor. "Your name is Evelyn Kent, right?"

Evelyn nodded.

He smacked his lips. "I understand that you're adopted. From some village in the Philippines."

"Sir, what does this have to do with-" Evelyn started, but he interrupted her.

"Answer the question please." he replied.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Yes."

He nodded his head. "So…I understand that Mr. Luthor here supposedly tried killing you're family. Is this true?"

Evelyn could feel her heart racing. This was the moment. She was going to lie. She was going to commit perjury. "It's about as true as Clark Kent is Superman."

The newsroom went into an uproar as Clark looked at her as if she was crazy. Did she really just say that?

The judge's mallet came hammering down. The courtroom wouldn't come to order though. Photographers started taking pictures of Evelyn, Clark, and Lex. This was field day for them!

Evelyn looked over to Clark and she could see that he was angry. She had never seen him that angry before. It was worse than when he found her in truck bed when he went to visit Lois' grave.

"Ms. Kent, you can go sit back down." the judge said over the shouting people.

Evelyn nodded and walked back to her seat. She could feel Clark's heavy glare upon her. She knew that he was going to have to do some major repair. She sunk into her chair. This was bad. Evelyn looked over to Lex. He actually had the nerve to nod approvingly.

Evelyn looked straight ahead. The judge was speaking, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. She could only hear her own irregular heart beat. Everything was moving in slow motion. No, this wasn't right. She had to fix it, but it was impossible. The damage was done.

* * *

Lois sighed as she popped several breath mints into her mouth. She had just gotten back from her afternoon routine of eating lunch but then throwing it all up. This was one of the parts she hated about being pregnant. The constant sickness.

As she walked back to her desk. She glanced up at the TV. They were tuned into the Lex Luthor case. Evelyn was on the stand right now. Lois really wished Evelyn didn't have to go through it, but she had to. She sat down at her desk paying some attention to her work and the other part to what Evelyn was saying.

Clark had already gone up on the stand and had said exactly what he said the time before. Lois was just glad that she wasn't called up to the stand. Someone turned up the TV and Lois decided to focus on the TV for a moment.

"So…I understand that Mr. Luthor here supposedly tried killing you're family. Is this true?" Lex's lawyer asked.

Lois knew the answer to that question, but Evelyn was hesitating. Evelyn should've answered already. Lois saw her looking around the crowd. She was nervous. "It's about as true as Clark Kent is Superman."

Lois spewed out the water that was in her mouth and everyone looked at her then to the TV screen. The newsroom was silent for a few moments as the TV recorded the chaos in the courtroom.

Perry stepped out of his office. "What are you all standing around for?! Get to work! Find out why she made that comment! Is Lex going to be freed! Come on people! The news doesn't wait!" Perry yelled at all the reporters. He looked over to Lois when he was done yelling and could see that she was shocked.

He walked towards her. "Um, Lois, are you going to need to take the rest of the day off?" Perry asked in a soft voice that he never used.

Lois looked up at him. "No, I'm…fine. I just need to call someone." she said as she got up with her cell phone in her hand.

Lois stepped into an empty room and dialed a familiar number. She waited for a few rings.

"Hello?"

"Kara, have you seen the news?"

"Um, no not today. Why what happened?" Lois groaned. She didn't know what Clark was going to do. Evelyn literally said that Clark Kent was Superman. What was she thinking? "Look, Evelyn sort of said something that sort of…" Lois searched her head looking for the right word. "Exposed Clark and his secret. I don't know how Clark's going to react, but can you pick up Evelyn from the Courthouse. I know Clark's going to need to do some damage control and I have no idea how mad he's going to be after Evelyn's comment."

Kara groaned slightly. "How could Evelyn say that?"

"I have no idea, but I'm going to figure it out. But do you think that you could do that for me?"

"Yeah, no problem. When should I get her?"

"Um, I think they're getting out right now."

"Okay, I'll go get her. I'll take her out somewhere and see if she'll talk with me."

Lois said her thanks and hung up the phone. She walked out and went back to her desk. She pulled out some medicine to try and relieve her of her pounding headache and churning stomach.

* * *

Kara sped off to the Courthouse and waited for Clark and Evelyn to come out. First came photographers and reporters and in the middle was Evelyn and Clark. Clark was really trying his best to delve into his nerdy Clark persona. He was actually hiding his anger really well, but Evelyn looked upset.

"Clark! Evelyn! Over here!" Kara called out.

Clark lifted his head when he heard Kara. If Kara didn't know any better, it looked like Clark could incinerate the next reporter that shoved another microphone in his face. "Kara, what are you doing here?" Clark asked in a low voice.

"Lois called. She wanted me to take Evelyn around for a little bit." Kara looked down at Evelyn with a pitiful look. She honestly looked scared of what Clark might do.

Clark roughly pushed Evelyn to Kara. "Here, take her. I've got some things to deal with." Clark said. He didn't even say good bye as he stalked off.

Kara watched Clark walking to the parking garage. She couldn't believe how he treated Evelyn! Kara turned her attention to Evelyn. She was watching Clark leaving. Her breathing was starting to get labored. Kara put an arm around Evelyn. "Calm down, all right."

Evelyn tried her best to listen to Kara's advice. "I've never seen him this mad." Evelyn said softly.

Kara grimaced. "Don't worry about it right now. I'm going to take you to my apartment and you are going to relax. You don't have to talk about any of this unless you want to. Just forget it all happened."

Evelyn had been trying to forget about it since it happened. She walked with Kara to her apartment. She was feeling very weak. A nice nap would help some.

* * *

Alfred looked at the results from Evelyn's blood sample. He started looking at another sheet of paper then went back to the results. His heart dropped. He had to be reading this wrong. It just couldn't be true. This couldn't be happening to Evelyn.

Alfred grabbed the phone and dialed Clark's cell. He didn't pick up, and Alfred didn't want to waste any time leaving a message. Instead, he called Bruce.

"Alfred, what's up?" Bruce asked once he answered.

"I need you to do me a favor."

"All right…what is it?"

"I need you to drop something off at the Kent farm."

"What would that be?"

"Some test results for Evelyn."

"Oh, and how did those turn out?"

Alfred frowned into the phone. "Not good."

* * *

Lois walked inside the farm house. The entire day, Clark had been out as Superman and didn't even bother to come to the Planet. Caleb and Love were sitting at the table getting their homework done.

Love looked up when she heard Lois come in. Just from the look on her face, Lois knew that Love had heard about what happened. "Hey Mom. Where's Evelyn?" she asked cautiously.

"She's with Aunt Kara."

"How come I couldn't go too?" Caleb asked with a pout on his lips.

"Caleb, you just couldn't okay." Lois explained as she set down her briefcase.

"Oh, well where's Daddy?" Caleb was still clueless as to what happened.

"He's out." Lois said simply as she grabbed some food from the refrigerator.

"When's he going to come back?"

"I don't know Caleb. Please stop asking me questions right now, okay?" Lois was getting really frustrated.

Caleb frowned. Why was everyone in such a bad mood.

The front door opened and Clark came in. He didn't look any better than when he left the Courthouse.

"Hey Clark." Lois greeted.

"Daddy!" Caleb exclaimed as he got up and wrapped his arms and legs around Clark's massive leg.

"Caleb get off of me." Clark said coldly.

"Clark…" Lois said in a warning tone.

Clark groaned. "Caleb, please. I haven't had a very good day." Caleb let go of him and stood up. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Clark said as he poked his head in the cabinets and refrigerator. He slammed the cabinets shut. "Why don't we ever have any food in this house?!" he yelled.

Caleb and Love flinched and even Lois was a bit surprised by his outburst. "Clark, no yelling. If you want food, then you can go get it. I just got home and I need to make sure these kids are getting their things done." Lois said.

Clark just grumbled under his breath as he took off to get some food.

"Is Dad all right?" Love asked.

"No, he's really angry if you haven't noticed."

Love nodded her head. "What about Evelyn? Have you heard anything from her."

"Kara called me and said that the entire time Evelyn was sleeping. She said that she was going to drop her off soon."

The door opened and Clark walked in with several bags of food in his hands. "I brought dinner."

Lois smiled and thanked Clark. "Caleb, come and clear off your mess."

Caleb did as she said and Love came after him setting the table. Clark sat down on one of the stools and put his head in his hands. Lois came up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Hey how're you feeling?"

Clark looked up at her. "I'm fine." he said as he brushed it off. He stood up and looked for something to do in the kitchen.

"Clark, you can't-"

"We're done!" Caleb declared

Clark walked past Lois and sat down. Lois, Caleb, and Love sat down with him. They started enjoying dinner, if you could call it dinner. They were all quiet, not saying one word. The reason why was because Clark was furious. He wasn't mad at any of them, he was mad at Evelyn. He couldn't believe that she would pull a stunt like that!

The front door opened and Evelyn walked in. She looked a little pale.

Clark turned and watched her make her way to the table. Evelyn didn't make eye contact with him and she pulled out her chair and sat down. She began picking at the food with her fork.

The silence in the air grew even more and it was becoming so unbearable.

"Um, did Kara just drop you off?" Lois asked, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah." Evelyn said in a quiet voice. "She said that there was an emergency that had to be taken care of."

Lois nodded and the silence came back again.

"Daddy?" Caleb started, not really knowing what he was going to ask him, but he didn't want it to be so quiet.

"What?" Clark answered coldly.

Caleb decided to be quiet.

"Clark, please calm down." Lois told him.

Clark looked at Lois. "You're right Lois. I should calm down." his voice was stock full of sarcasm.

Evelyn's fork clattered down on her plate. "I'm not really hungry. I'm going upstairs." she pushed her chair back and started walking away.

"Evelyn Kent you come back here this instant." Clark demanded.

Evelyn stopped but she didn't turn around. "Yes?" her voice was annoyed.

Clark stood up and walked towards her. "What in the world were you thinking in that courtroom!"

Evelyn stared at him with unwavering eyes.

"Clark, please!" Lois said as she stood up.

"No, Lois! This needs to be taken care of now!" Clark yelled.

Evelyn gripped her chest. "Could you please stop yelling." she said in a soft voice.

Clark didn't hear what she said. "Evelyn, how could you do something like that?!"

"You don't get it do you?" Evelyn asked, her voice slowly rising.

"What is it you want me to get?!"

"You _left_! You promised me that you would never go away! You left me, just like Mom did! Just like my biological parents did! Everyone in my life that has mattered left me! You are no different! And then you think that you can just come back like nothing happened?!" Evelyn tired to steady her breathing. It was getting so hard to breath and she felt like crying out from the pain that she felt in her chest. "Abandonment is something that you will always do! I wish I had never been adopted by you Clark!! Maybe then I would actually have a normal life! I would've had a dad and mom who were average Joe's! A dad who would work at an office from nine to five and a mom who would stay at home and do stuff around the house! But I had to get stuck with a dad that flies around in a red cape and a mom who gets kidnapped every other week! And I haven't even mentioned my first mom who tried killing all of us!!"

Nobody said anything. They were all shocked. Evelyn had been bottling that up for so long, and now she finally let it out. She looked so weak and pale. Clark didn't know what to say. How could he say anything? He walked towards her, but she backed away from him.

Evelyn closed her eyes. She gripped at her chest and began taking shaky breaths. She groaned loudly, the pain becoming too much. "It hurts." she moaned out softly. Evelyn's cheeks became wet as tears ran down her face.

"Evelyn? Evelyn, what's wrong?" Clark asked as he grabbed her. She was too weak to try and get out of his grip.

Evelyn gasped one last time before she fell limp in his arms.

Lois and Love immediately got up, while Caleb sat there, confused about what was going on.

Clark had set Evelyn down on the floor and was staring at her in shock.

"Clark, we need to get her to a hospital." Lois told him, wondering if he would even hear.

"Dad, I can't hear her heart." Love told him in a scared voice.

Clark looked up at Love, hoping it wasn't true. He listened and couldn't hear it either. "Come on, bud. Wake up."

"Clark! Hospital!" Lois nearly yelled.

Clark looked up at her, his face was completely unreadable. He gathered himself together and picked Evelyn up in his arms. He ran to Smallville Medical Center. "I need a doctor!" he yelled once he was inside.

Several nurses were there and they grabbed a gurney. They took Evelyn from Clark's arms and laid her down. A doctor came running down the hallway and quickly assessed the situation. They rushed her into the ER. Clark tried following. "I'm sorry, sir, but you can't come in here." said a nurse.

"But that's my daughter!"

"I'm sorry, sir. Hospital policy." came her quick reply. She saw the hopeless look on his face. "We'll bring you news as soon as we can."

Clark nodded his thank you. He walked into the waiting room and took a seat. He was going to have to wait for the longest time.

* * *

Bruce stepped out of the Porsche he had driven. He decided to go with something more subtle tonight. He could see through the window that Lois was bustling around getting some things together. He could tell that she looked pretty stressed.

He walked up the porch steps and was nearly run over by Love. "Bruce? What are you doing here?" she asked as she skid to a stop.

Bruce held up a file folder. "I have some information for your parents."

Lois came into the doorway with Caleb in her arms. She looked totally frazzled. "Bruce, I'm sorry, but we've got to go like right now."

"Lois, wait, I have something you'd want to see."

"Bruce, whatever it is, it can wait. We've got to get to the hospital."

Bruce knitted his eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

Lois sighed as she wiped at he watery eyes with her free hand. "Evelyn collapsed. We don't know what could've happened."

Bruce clenched his jaws. "Let me go with you." he said as he gripped the folder tightly.

* * *

A/N: Sorry I haven't been updating. School's starting to pile up since it's coming to the end of the year. :/ Starting to stress out a lot! Here's the next chapter and I hope you guys like it! :D


	17. Clean

Clean

Lois walked into the waiting room with Love and Bruce walking on both sides her and Caleb in her arms. They saw Clark sitting there with his head in his hands. "Daddy!" Caleb squirmed out of Lois' grasp and ran to Clark. Clark didn't look up when Caleb ran to him. "Daddy, what's wrong?"

Clark finally looked up. It had been evident he had been crying. "Nothing." he said as he brushed away stray tears.

Love and Lois walked towards him and they both sat on either side of him. Bruce stayed behind, letting them have their moment. "Dad, is Evelyn okay?" Love asked.

Clark looked straight ahead and rubbed his hands. "The doctors still haven't told me anything. They took her into the ER."

Lois placed her hand on Clark's arm. "She's going to be fine, Clark. Evelyn's a fighter."

Clark grabbed Lois' hand, trying to get strength from her.

A doctor came up to them. "Clark Kent?"

Clark stood up along with Lois. Love stayed seated and Caleb climbed into her lap. "Is Evelyn okay?"

The doctor looked at Love and Caleb then looked back to Lois and Clark. "Could I speak to you two in private?"

Clark and Lois exchanged a look before following the doctor to an empty area of the hall. "We were able to get Evelyn stabilized."

"So she's all right? Is she awake? Can we go in and see her?" Clark asked question after question.

"Clark…let him finish." Lois said as she squeezed his hand.

"Has she been complaining about chest pains? Her breathing getting becoming difficult? Fatigue?" the doctor asked. The name on his tag said Ryan Schildt.

"No, why?" Clark asked.

"Actually, she's been sleeping a lot more and hasn't been eating good." Lois corrected.

Ryan's frown grew. "I'm going to have to run some tests to see what's wrong inside of her."

"Is she going to be all right?" Lois asked. She was getting frustrated with him for not saying what they wanted to see.

"There's no telling at this point whether or not she'll get better or worse."

Clark asked the question that was on both of their minds. "Is there a chance that she won't…" he couldn't finish it.

"Like I said there's no telling at this point."

Clark felt like he had just been punched in the gut with a hammer made from pure kryptonite.

"Thank you doctor." Lois said calmly.

"Thank you?! Why are you telling him thank you?! He just said that Evelyn could-"

"Clark, stop yelling. Love and Caleb are over there and they just heard every word you yelled along with everyone else." Lois looked over at Caleb and Love. Caleb had fallen asleep, but Love was watching them closely. "Come on. Let's go talk." Lois said as she gently guided him to an empty room. She opened the door for him and they both walked in.

Clark collapsed in a chair. He felt numb. His whole world was crashing down around him. He remembered that day Evelyn had been in that car accident with Lana. He swore to himself that he wasn't going to let any harm come to her. But here she was lying in a hospital bed possibly dying, and it was his fault. If he hadn't yelled at her, she wouldn't be in here.

Lois pulled up a chair and sat across from him. She grabbed his hands and began rubbing them. "Stop blaming yourself Clark. You could have never prevented this."

Clark looked up at Lois. He had tears in his eyes. "I could've. If I hadn't yelled at her-"

"No Clark. You were in no way responsible." Lois insisted.

Clark looked away from her piercing hazel eyes. "I have all these powers, and I can't do anything. I feel so…"

"Useless?"

Clark nodded his head and wiped his nose.

Lois pulled him into a hug and held him as he cried out his heart. Lois cried along with him as they shared their pain.

A soft knock came from the door. Both Lois and Clark sat up straight and started wiping away the tears. Lois stood up to answer the door. It was Bruce. "Lois, I know this is a really bad time, but there's something that you both need to see." Bruce said in a sympathetic tone.

Lois nodded and she opened the door wider. Bruce walked to where they had been sitting and stood there. He fiddled with the folder in his hands. He knew that this information was going to hurt them a lot, but they needed to know about this. Too much time had been wasted already.

"The tests results came back." Bruce finally spoke.

"How did they come out?" Clark asked.

"Um…how about you take a seat first."

They took Bruce's advice and sat down. They knew that whatever Bruce had to say, it wasn't anything good.

"Evelyn's blood work came in and it doesn't look good." Bruce said. "There's a big possibility that she has this disease called ischemic heart disease, or coronary artery disease."

"What is it?" Lois asked with fear in her voice. She didn't want to know what it was, but they needed to know.

"It means that she has narrow heart arteries. Since they're so narrow, not enough blood and oxygen reaches the heart. One of the big symptoms of this is angina pectoris, which is pretty much just intense chest pains. But since Evelyn's a female and because she's still young, she has a higher protection. The protection could be easily taken away, though, if a close blood-relative has diabetes."

Clark's heart dropped. Everything that Bruce had said had been hard to take in, but when he heard that Evelyn had a higher protection, his spirits were lifted a little. They were only lifted so they could go even lower when Bruce said his last statement.

Lois looked over at Clark and could see the blank expression on his face. "What is it?" she asked.

He looked up at her. "Evelyn's biological mother died from the same thing."

Lois didn't want it to be true. "Are you positive?"

Clark nodded.

Bruce could see how hopeless they looked. This was such a blow to them. "I'll give this information to the doctor." he said as he walked out of the room.

Bruce saw Love rubbing a sleeping Caleb's back. She saw him too. She gave him a look that said she wanted to know what was going on.

Bruce sighed as he made his way towards her. "Hey Love."

"Do you know what's wrong with Evelyn?" she asked quietly. Caleb didn't need to be awake right now.

Bruce looked down at the folder. He wanted to say no, maybe save her some pain. "Yes, but you'll find out later."

Love frowned. "If you say so."

Bruce stood up and rubbed her hair. "She'll get better."

Love looked up at him with a small smile on her lips. "Thanks."

* * *

Jimmy knocked tentatively on Perry's door. "Come in." he heard him say. Jimmy gulped slightly and opened the door. "Hey Chief, um, Lois called."

"Did she say when she was going to get hers and Kent's butt up here?" Perry said sounding annoyed.

"Yeah, about that…she's not going to be here."

"What?!" Perry stood up. "And why not?!"

"Evelyn's in the hospital!" Jimmy exclaimed, scared that he was going to get fired.

Perry softened immediately. "What happened?" he asked with such concern in his voice.

"I don't know, but they're all taking it pretty hard." Jimmy could remember Lois' trembling voice over the phone.

"Is Evelyn going to be fine?"

"She didn't give me any details."

Perry grimaced. "All right. Thanks Olsen."

Jimmy nodded and he walked out the door.

Perry sat back down in the chair. He really hoped that Evelyn was going to be all right. For some reason, he always saw her as the glue that held the Kent's together.

* * *

Clark drove the car with Lois in the passenger seat and Caleb and Love in the back. The hospital staff told them that they had to go home and could come back in the morning during visiting hours. They would be allowed to see Evelyn today.

Clark gripped the steering wheel. Lois saw it and knew that he could leave a dent in it. "Clark, loosen your grip."

Clark clenched his jaw as he did what Lois told him. He breathed in and out deeply as he felt Lois put her hand on his leg. "She's going to be fine, Clark. She has to be."

Clark looked at her. "I really want to believe that, Lois. I can't loose her."

Lois nodded and didn't say anything back. The rest of the ride to the hospital was silent. They arrived and all got off. Lois went up to the front desk and asked what room Evelyn was in. They followed Lois and came to Evelyn's room. Clark was holding Caleb in his arms and Love was walking close to both Lois and Clark. They all stopped in front of the window to Evelyn's room. There were so many machines around her. She needed an oxygen mask on.

"Daddy, what's wrong with Evelyn?" Caleb asked.

Clark looked straight into Caleb's hazel eyes. He got them from Lois. "I don't know."

Lois grabbed Caleb from Clark's arms. "You go in and see her first. These guys didn't get a good breakfast and neither did I. We'll be back in a minute." Lois told him.

Clark nodded and Lois left with Caleb and Love. Clark didn't move from his spot. He was afraid to go inside. What if when he walked in, Evelyn would flat-line?

Clark gathered some courage and opened the door. He walked in and closed the door behind him. He sat in the chair provided that was next to her bedside. Clark ran his fingers through his hair as he watched Evelyn. Her tanned skin looked so pale. She was so skinny and fragile. How could they have not seen it before?

"Hey bud." Clark finally spoke. He didn't expect a response, but he still paused long enough for one. A tear fell down his face as he continued speaking. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have gone. I shouldn't have left you, Lois, Love, Caleb." he whispered out. "I did break that promise, didn't I?" he said with a grim smile. He grabbed her hand and held onto it. He let his head fall down onto the mattress.

If he wasn't paying attention, he wouldn't have felt Evelyn squeeze his hand. He jerked his head up and looked at her. He could see her brown eyes half open and a faint smile on her. "Evelyn?"

Her weak smile faded and instead her face twisted into pain. He could hear the heart monitor quicken its pace. "Evelyn, calm down. Just take deep breaths."

Evelyn closed her eyes and started breathing heavily. After a few deep breaths, the heart monitor calmed down and her heart was beating normally again.

"Try not to get too excited." Clark said with a worried expression.

Evelyn groped at her mask and pulled it off for a few moments. "I'm sorry." she said in a weak voice. "I didn't mean all those things that I said." she put the mask back on.

Clark smiled. "It's okay. We can talk about it more when you start getting better."

Evelyn nodded. The door opened and Lois walked in with Caleb and Love trailing behind her. In her hands she held several plates of hospital breakfast and she had Love holding two cups of coffee for her and Clark.

"Evelyn!" Caleb exclaimed. He ran to her and was about to jump up on the bed, but Clark caught him in midair.

"I don't think that's a good idea, guy." Clark said as he held him.

Caleb looked up at Clark with a pout on his face. He looked back to Evelyn. "Why are you in the hospital?"

Evelyn smiled weakly and shrugged her shoulders.

Caleb's pout became a frown.

Lois set down the plates and walked up to Evelyn. She bent down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Hey sweetie."

Evelyn smiled and she gave a little wave. She looked to Love who was still standing at the entrance. She was the only one that hadn't made a move.

Love gulped once she felt Evelyn looking at her. She really didn't want to go in because she knew that she was going to become upset. It wasn't right seeing Evelyn in a hospital bed. They never even went to the hospital.

"Come over here Love." Clark said as he patted an empty chair.

Love looked at him uneasily before she started walking towards them. "Hey Evelyn." she mumbled out.

There was a knock at the door. It was the doctor. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but may I have a word with Mr. and Mrs. Kent?"

"Sure." Clark said as he stood up. He grabbed Lois' hand as she stood up along with him. They walked out of the room.

"So what's the verdict?" Lois asked as she crossed her arms.

"I went over the test results that Mr. Wayne provided and I double checked with my own tests."

"Does she have it?"

The doctor looked at them both. "I'm sorry, but she does."

One of Lois' hand went to her stomach and the other went to Clark's arm. She gripped it tightly, trying to steady herself. "I've got to use the restroom." she said as she quickly ran to the bathroom.

Clark watched her leaving. He didn't want her to leave. He knew that she was going to throw up, but he needed her right here at this moment. Clark gulped. "Is there anything that can be done?"

"The only thing that I could recommend would be medication."

Clark nodded his head. "All right."

The doctor walked away from Clark leaving him standing alone in the hallway. He sighed as he started walking to the bathroom Lois walked in. He stopped at the closed door and knocked. "Lois? Are you in here?"

Clark heard Lois fumbling with the lock. She opened the door and she looked sick. "Sorry."

"It's all right." he said as he rubbed her back.

Lois gave him a small smile as she pulled out a tooth brush and a small tube of toothpaste. She turned on the water from the sink and started brushing her teeth. "What did the doctor say?" she asked as soon as she took out the tooth brush.

"The only thing that he could do is give her medication and hope she's cured." Clark leaned against the wall, waiting for Lois to be finished.

Lois spit out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth. She put her stuff away and looked at Clark. "What are we going to do?"

Clark looked down. "I don't know." he said.

Lois walked into his arms and they hugged each other tightly. Lois let her tears seep through her shut eyes. She didn't care if anyone saw her crying. Evelyn was in a hospital bed and she had great reason to cry. Her family almost fell apart. Who knows if they were going to be able to recover.

* * *

The elevator doors opened to the bull pen inside the Daily Planet. Normally, no one would pay attention to who would walk in, but the man who walked in was hard not to notice. He walked in with an air of confidence. His confidence was more of arrogance though.

Perry walked out of his office. "Lex Luthor." he greeted the man. "You're not welcome here." he said as he crossed his arms. Everyone in the newsroom watched them as they talked.

Lex stopped and looked at Perry. "What makes you think that you can throw me out?"

"Because you don't own the place." Perry said with a victorious smirk.

Lex gave him a smirk back. "Actually Mr. White, that's why I wanted to talk with you." Lex turned around and looked at everyone in the bull pen. "I wanted to make an important announcement. Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen no longer own the Daily Planet." Lex looked at everyone's reaction as he said his next statement. "I do."

* * *

A/N: Sorry this was a shorter chapter than what I usually write. But I finally revealed what's wrong with Evelyn! Lol, hope you guys like this one. I'm not going to be updating for a little over two weeks. We're going on a mission trip to Mexico! Leave your thoughts and comments please!


	18. Perfection

Perfection

The following week had been so difficult. Clark and Lois were trying their best to still be parents. Clark was spending less time as Superman and more time as their dad. He sat down with Evelyn and they had a nice long talk. Clark didn't really give them any details, but he did tell Lois that he discussed that night at the Luthor Mansion. Evelyn apologized to them and things were starting to slowly patch up between them.

The news reporters forgot about Evelyn's statement in the courtroom and were now obsessed about a nuclear threat in some European country. They were all grateful for the distraction.

Clark and Lois didn't go to the Planet the entire week. They were all spending their time at the hospital with Evelyn. But next week they were going to go in. Love and Caleb hadn't gone to school either. They were going to back next week also.

The doctor's were giving Evelyn medicine and were trying to get her strong enough to go back home. She was able to breath without and oxygen mask when she was awake, but just as a precaution, she had to wear it when she slept. Her chest pains were also becoming less frequent.

There were so many visitors for Evelyn. Ella and Josh were one of the first ones, half the Justice League came to visit, Chloe, Jimmy and all of their kids, Martha, the General and Lucy, Perry, Cat Grant, even Nell sent a card. It really made Evelyn glad that there were so many people out there who cared deeply for her.

Love and Caleb walked into Evelyn's room. Clark and Lois had gone to talk with Evelyn's doctor to see how she was doing. Evelyn was lying on the bed with her head turned away from them. Her eyes were staring out the window. Christmas lights had already been hung on all the trees.

"Hey Evelyn. How are you?" Love asked as she sat down on the seat.

Evelyn turned her head and looked at Love. "Bored. There's nothing to do here except laugh at the people outside and watch TV. But nobody's outside since the cold front came in and I lost the remote."

Caleb frowned at the black TV screen. "So you haven't been doing anything all day?" he asked.

"Nope." Evelyn said.

"Why didn't you just ask the nurse for a remote?" Love asked as she got up to go do exactly that.

Evelyn shrugged her shoulders as Love left the room looking for a nurse.

Love walked out into the hallway. She didn't see any nurse available, but she did see Clark and Lois walking towards her. They didn't see her though.

"So when are we going to tell them?" Clark asked Lois.

Lois sighed. "I don't know. I would really like for Evelyn to be out of the hospital when we do it."

"We don't know how long that's going to take."

"I know." Lois' hand traveled to her stomach. "How are we going to do it Clark? I mean adopting two kids from another country, Evelyn being in the hospital and all the doctor appointments I'm going to have? We'll be bankrupt!"

Clark pulled Lois into a hug as they continued walking. "Don't worry Lois. We'll find a way. We always do." he said as he placed a hug on her head.

They still hadn't noticed Love watching them. Love quickly turned into a different hallway. She was a bit shocked at the news she had over-heard. There was going to be three new members added to the Kent family. How were they going to do it? Lois had good reason to worry!

Love found a nurse and got a remote from her. Focusing on that was better than hearing Clark and Lois' words playing over and over in her head. She walked back in the room and found Lois and Clark already in there. Love handed Evelyn the remote and they all started watching TV.

"So…" Love said after a bit. "Anything you guys want to tell us?" she asked Clark and Lois.

Clark and Lois exchanged a look. "No, nothing that we can think of." Lois answered.

Liar. Love knew exactly what they were thinking. Okay, so maybe she didn't know _exactly_ but she guessed. "You're sure?" she persisted.

"Love, is there something that _you_ know?" Clark asked.

Love sat back in her chair and looked to the TV screen. "No."

Clark gave Lois a worried look. He had already ignored a problem with one of his kids. Now she was in the hospital. "Love, if there's anything-"

Clark was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Hey guys." it was Jimmy.

"Hey there Evelyn." Jimmy greeted Evelyn with a hand squeeze. "How are you feeling?"

"Bored." Evelyn answered.

Jimmy chuckled while Clark and Lois smiled slightly.

"What's up?" Lois asked.

"Actually, I kind of need to talk with you and Clark…alone." Jimmy said as he began playing with his hands.

"Okay…?" Clark said as he stood up. He and Lois stepped out of the room.

Lois could see the anxious looks on Jimmy's face. "Is everything all right?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around herself.

Jimmy looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Something pretty big happened at the Planet."

"Well we haven't heard about anything." Clark said. What could be so big? There was always big things happening there and most of the time it didn't affect them.

"Oliver and Bruce don't own the Daily Planet anymore." Jimmy said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Lex Luthor does and he's been pulling a lot of strings lately."

Clark and Lois looked at him as if his mouth was foaming with green saliva. "Wait, Lex Luthor…as in puny, evil, bald guy…owns the Daily Planet?"

"Yes. He's been firing a lot of people. I've barely been able to keep my job. Perry's gone. Lex tried telling him what to do and he didn't do it. Lex fired him, but Perry said that he quit anyways." Jimmy looked at Clark and Lois sympathetically. "I'm really sorry about this you guys. I know that he's done some pretty awful stuff to you and your family."

"Um, yeah. Thanks for letting us know." Clark said. He actually would rather have lived in ignorance for a while.

"Okay, well we've got to go. The twins are in the car and I'm pretty sure they're getting fussy." Jimmy said. "I'll come by later with the family to visit. I just thought that you should know about this."

"Wait, how long has Lex owned the Planet?" Clark asked before Jimmy could leave.

Jimmy stopped and thought for a moment. "Um, the morning after Evelyn was admitted to the hospital."

Clark frowned. How could they have not heard about this sooner? "All right, thanks Jimmy."

"No problem." he said as he started walking away.

Lois watched him leave. Everything was going wrong. "Now what are we going to do?" she asked in a hopeless tone.

Clark clenched his teeth as he tried suppressing his anger. "We're going to go over there right now."

Lois looked up at him. "Are you nuts?! You'll be walking straight into the lion's den!"

"Lois, calm down. I'm going to find out what exactly is going on there. Maybe Jimmy accidentally left out an important detail." Clark said. He didn't wait for Lois to say another word before he walked back into Evelyn's room.

Evelyn and Love looked up. They both knew that something was wrong. "What's going on?" Evelyn asked.

Clark looked at her. She didn't need to deal with any surprising news. Even the doctor's had said so. "Nothing, me and your mom are going to stop by the Daily Planet really quick. There's something there that we need to take care of." Clark explained.

"Like what?" Love asked.

"Just some work that needs to be picked up. We'll be back as soon as we can." Lois said easily. "Watch Caleb, make sure he doesn't touch anything."

Caleb was too engrossed in the cartoon Evelyn had put on, but he did realize that Clark and Lois were leaving. "Bye Mommy, bye Daddy." he said, not once did his eyes tear away from the screen.

Clark and Lois both said good bye to their kids and left. Love immediately turned to Evelyn as soon as they left. "Do you know what's going on?"

Evelyn looked at her weird. "No…I think that was the whole point of them lying to us. They don't want us to know." Evelyn said. They both knew that Clark and Lois had been lying to them. Evelyn didn't feel like arguing about it with them though. She had done a lot of arguing and was finally tired of it.

"I'm not talking about that! I mean…" Love looked at Caleb to make sure he wasn't listening. "Do you think that some more rooms are going to be added to our house." she whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Evelyn still wasn't getting it.

Love rolled her eyes. Did she have to spell it out for her?! Maybe it was just the medicine that was making Evelyn slower than usual. "Dad and Mom are adopting!"

Evelyn smirked. "I already knew that. They're going to be adopting Esmeralda and Katrina." Evelyn started watching TV again.

Love was a little hurt that they hadn't told her, but she understood why they would tell Evelyn first. They were her sisters. "But did you also know that Mom's pregnant?"

Evelyn looked at Love with furrowed brows. "What? Are you serious?"

"Yes and they haven't even told us yet!"

"Why wouldn't they tell us?"

"I don't know. Parents are weird!"

Evelyn looked down with a pout on her face. How could they not tell them something this important?

* * *

Lex watched as Eddie prepared the little remote for Lex. "And you're sure he'll be the only one to hear it?" Lex asked for the fifth time.

"Yes sir. Nobody else will be able to hear it." Eddie said as he handed Lex the remote. "Just turn the knob until it reaches the seventh line."

Lex could feel joy bubbling inside of him. His plan was finally being set in motion. He grabbed the remote from Eddie and slowly began turning it. His hand stopped once he reached the seventh line.

With a satisfied smile, Lex pocketed the remote. "Our little guest will be here within five minutes." he looked at his watch and started counting down the minutes. "Do you have the cuffs ready?"

Eddie opened a lead case. Handcuffs lined with kryptonite laid hidden inside. "Everything's in a perfect line."

Caleb could hear Evelyn and Love whispering. He didn't pay any attention though. TV was _way_ more interesting than whatever gossip they were discussing.

There was a knock on the door. "Evelyn, it's time for your daily check-up." a nurse came in with a clipboard in her hands. She walked in and Love and Caleb stepped aside as the nurse started the check-up.

She laid a stethoscope on Evelyn's back. "Breath in deeply for me."

Evelyn did what she said, but her breaths were short and shaky.

The nurse frowned. "Um, Love and Caleb, could you wait outside for a moment."

Love looked at the nurse with a worried look. "Is everything all right?"

"Of course. I just want to check something." the nurse said with a simple smile.

Love and Caleb followed her orders and stepped outside.

"What are they doing to Evelyn?" Caleb asked.

"They're giving her a check-up." Love answered as she crossed her arms and leaned against a wall.

Caleb rolled his eyes. "I know that. I mean what are they going to be doing during the check-up?"

"I don't know Caleb." Love snapped.

Caleb pouted his lips and stuck out his tongue. "Meanie." he mumbled as he leaned against the wall also. He was barely standing there for five seconds before he got bored. He wanted to go back inside. He huffed.

Without warning, a loud ringing went through Caleb's ears. It was very annoying and it actually hurt. "Ow, ow, ow, ow! Love do you hear that?!" Caleb yelled as he covered his ears.

Love looked down at him. "Stop messing around Caleb. Your drawing unnecessary attention."

Caleb didn't hear a word she said. "I'm going to the restroom." he moaned out as he walked down the hallway. As soon as he was sure no one was looking, he took off in a blur towards the ringing sound.

Caleb didn't know where he was running towads, but he knew that they ringing noise was there. He stopped after ten seconds in the middle of a large and empty warehouse. The ringing was very loud. "Hello?" he called out.

A man stepped out of the shadows. Caleb could tell that he had a very bald and very shiny head. "Wow, you came here pretty quick! I didn't think that you could run that fast!" the man said in a mock excited voice.

"Who are you?"

He pulled out a remote and turned the knob. "I'm Lex Luthor." he pulled out a set of handcuffs. "And your coming with me." Lex began walking towards Caleb.

Caleb could feel something horrible starting from his stomach and ending up all over his body. It hurt so bad, it was a completely new kind of pain. Heck, it was the first kind of pain that he ever felt. He shut his eyes and held his stomach while moaning.

"It hurts, doesn't?" Lex said as he continued walking towards the helpless child.

"Yes, make it stop!" Caleb said as he tried holding back the tears of pain. He fell to the ground and curled up into a tight ball.

"Sorry kid. The only one that can make it stop is your Daddy." Lex bent down beside Caleb and put on the handcuffs. "It's time for payback." he snapped his fingers and a large man came out of the shadows. He picked up Caleb with ease and started walking towards the door.

Lex smiled as he followed the man from a distance. Everything was going to fall perfectly in place.

* * *

Clark and Lois walked onto the top floor of the Daily Planet. Cat saw them come in. "Hey guys. What are you two doing here? I thought you were going to come back next week." she said.

"We'll we were, but then we heard something about a new owner?" Lois said as she met up with Cat. Clark stood by her. "What's going on?"

Cat looked around nervously. "So I'm guessing Jimmy must've told you then." she said in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, he spilled the beans. What happened?" Lois asked.

"I don't know. Lex just waltzed in one day and said he was the new owner. We tried fighting him, but it just cost a lot of people their jobs. Now he's hiring his own lackeys."

Clark took a look around the newsroom. She was right. There were less familiar faces and more new ones. All of the news ones looked like they were all crocked. He was a bit surprised to see their desks still intact. "Is Lex here?" Clark asked with a level of urgency in his voice.

"No, he left a few hours ago." Cat walked to her desk. Clark and Lois followed. "Look, I'd understand if you guys came up here so you could quit, but to be honest, it's be really good if one of you could keep working here." Cat said as she sat down. Her face was pleading with them.

Cat's phone rang before any one of them could speak. "Daily Planet, Cat Grant speaking…" Cat's face paled. "Um, yeah, they're right here…You want to talk with them?…Uh-huh…yes sir." Cat handed Clark the phone. "It's Lex."

Clark clenched his jaw as he took the phone. "Lex."

"Clark. How've you been. I've been hearing that your family has a big chance at going broke. That is if you haven't already gone broke." Lex said teasingly.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing really. I just want to know if you know how many kids you have."

Clark frowned. "I swear if you-"

"How many kids do you have."

Clark sighed. "Three."

"Are you sure? There's not one missing?"

Clark's heart stopped. He hung up the phone and looked at Lois. "Call Love."

Lois gave him a look that said she wanted an explanation, but Clark wasn't going to provide it right now. Lois pulled out her phone and dialed Love's number. "What's going on?"

"Just let me talk to her." Clark said as he took the phone from Lois. He waited for Love to pick up.

Cat watched them. Whatever Lex told them, it was not good.

* * *

Love could feel her phone vibrating. She pulled it out of her pocket. It was Lois. "Hey Mom."

"Love, it's your Dad."

"Oh, hey Dad. Is everything all right?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital. Remember?"

"What about Evelyn?"

Love looked in through the window. The nurse was still doing the check-up. "She's having her daily check-up."

"And Caleb?"

"He went to the restroom. Dad, are you sure everything's all right?"

"Love, I need you to make sure that Caleb's in the restroom, okay? Call me back as soon as you know."

"All right. Bye Dad."

Love hung up the phone and started walking to the men's bathroom. She knocked on the door. "Caleb, you in there?"

There was no response. Love frowned as she knocked again. "Caleb?"

"Hey Love, what are you doing?"

Love looked up and saw Josh. "Oh hey, Josh. I'm just making sure Caleb's in the bathroom. My dad just called wanting a head count."

Josh chuckled "You want me to check?"

"That'd be great."

Josh walked into the bathroom. Love waited outside for a few seconds. He came out. "He's not there."

Love felt her heart drop for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, are you sure that he went into the bathroom?"

"Yeah he…" Love remembered that Caleb started complaining about a loud ringing. "Oh great." she muttered. Love whipped out her phone and called Lois' cell. She waited a few rings.

"Did you find him?" Clark asked.

"He's not in the restroom and I haven't seen him." Love said with worry in her voice. "He started complaining about a loud ringing noise that only he heard before he left."

Clark swore. "Love, I want you to go into Evelyn's room and do not leave. No matter what."

"But-"

"No! You are not going to argue. Do it now."

"Yes sir." Love hung up the phone.

Josh noticed how tense Love had become. "Is everything all right?"

Love sighed. "I don't know."

* * *

Clark handed Lois the phone. "Is Caleb with them?" Lois asked.

"No. He has him. I'm sure of it." Clark could feel the rage growing. He was going to snap his puny little neck once he got a hold of him!

Lois felt her heart break. Lex had one of her kids _again_. She grabbed Cat's wastebasket and threw up.

* * *

Caleb opened his eyes. He was in a brightly lit room. On one of the walls, there was a large window. Caleb stood up. He could feel that same pain, but it was a lot calmer.

Caleb walked to the large window and looked in. There was something weird lying on the table. It reminded him of the boogie monster. Caleb tapped on the window, seeing if it would do anything.

The boogie monster opened his eyes. Caleb could see that they were blood red. Once his eyes were open, the boogie monster let out a loud yell.

Caleb ducked and covered his ears as he yelled one thing. "Daddy!!"

* * *

a/n: Back from Mexico. Sorry it took a while to get this chapter up. We came back on Monday and I've been resting all week. Mexico really drained us. But I'm back to 100% now. :D Please enjoy this chapter and tell me what you think. Oh and for those of you who read my other story 'The Assassin', I'll try my best to get that one updated really soon!


	19. Disaster

Disaster

Love tried her best to seem calm. Josh was there and she really couldn't explain to him why she was freaking out. She wanted so badly to get up and look for Caleb, but she wanted to know what was taking so long with Evelyn's check-up. The nurse was still in Evelyn's room and a doctor was with her. They were still checking up on Evelyn's condition.

"So how's Evelyn been feeling today?" Josh asked as he tried starting up conversation.

"She's been feeling okay. She doesn't say anything, but I notice when her chest starts hurting. She'll make a small moan and start moving around on the bed." Love sighed as she looked in through the window. The doctor seemed worried.

"Have they tried anything to make the pain less?"

"They put her on a small dosage of morphine, but it can only do so much." Love looked at Josh and she could see the concern in his eyes. She could also see how much he cared for Evelyn. Despite all the things that were going on around her, Love could feel a smile creep up on her face. "You know, Evelyn really likes someone."

Josh faced Love. Disappointment was written all over his face. "Who?"

"I think that you'd have to ask her for yourself."

The door to Evelyn's room opened and the nurse and doctor came out. Love and Josh stood up. "You can go back in a visit her. But visiting hours are over in three hours." said the doctor.

Josh nodded and walked into Evelyn's room. Love stayed behind. "Was everything all right?" she asked the doctor.

"Are your parents here?" he asked as he held the clipboard in his hands.

"No, they went to go take care of something."

The doctor sighed heavily. "I really don't want to share any details without your parents here. Just try not to get Evelyn worked up too much." the doctor smiled at Love compassionately and walked away.

Love watched him leave and wondered what was wrong. She tried her best to shrug it off and she walked into Evelyn's room.

Josh was sitting in a chair beside Evelyn's bed. Love noticed an oxygen mask hanging from Evelyn's neck. The doctor probably told her to have it on, but she must've ignored his orders. "Hey Evelyn. What did the doctor say?" Love asked.

"He wouldn't tell me." Evelyn said quietly.

Love nodded. "Okay, well I need to go…do something real quick. I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Evelyn asked.

"Don't worry about it." Love looked from Josh to Evelyn. "Do what the doctor told you to do Evelyn." Love said firmly before she walked out the door.

* * *

Cat scrunched up her nose as Lois walked away with her wastebasket. She needed to empty it out. "What's going on?" she asked Clark.

Clark looked away from Lois' retreating form. "Nothing you need to worry about." Clark started walking away. "Tell Lois that I went ahead and left. And tell her not to worry, I've got everything under control." he yelled to Cat before he ran down the stairs.

Cat furrowed her brows at Clark's strange behavior. He was the most strangest man on Earth.

Lois came back with the clean wastebasket. She looked around. "Where's Clark?" she asked in a worried voice.

"I don't know. He took off and told me to tell you not to worry, that he has everything under control. I swear Lois, I don't know what you see in him. He's so weird." Cat said as she took a seat.

Lois sighed as she held her head. She was starting to get such a headache. She knew that Clark took off to look for Caleb. Well she wasn't going to sit back and wait for him. She was going to help him in any way she could.

* * *

Caleb watched the boogie monster yelling. He saw Caleb and Caleb knew it. The boogie monster let out another yell and began pounding on the glass. Caleb was terrified. Never before had he seen something this scary. He remembered that once he accidentally saw part of a scary movie that Love and Evelyn watched, but this was nothing like that. This really was real.

Where was his dad? Why wasn't he here yet? Caleb flinched as the glass began cracking. This was too much for his little heart. Caleb passed out on the floor because of the fright.

* * *

Lois closed the door to the car and pulled out her phone. She dialed the number she would always dial when things seemed to be going wrong. She waited a few rings.

"Hello?"

"Bruce, thank goodness you're there! I need all the information you have on Lex and anything he might be up to."

"Lois, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Look, I heard Oliver mention Eversor. I've heard about it. I don't know everything, but I know that it can't be good. What is Lex doing with Eversor? And what about that whole frequency testing. What is he trying to do?"

Bruce sighed. "He's testing different frequency levels and how low he can go to where dogs can ignore it subconsciously, but yet high enough humans can't hear it."

"Okay, now explain Eversor." Lois didn't see how the frequency and Eversor connected, but she was sure that Lex found a way.

"Lois…I really shouldn't. That's Clark place to tell you."

"Bruce don't you dare give me any of that crap. Tell me what's going on with Eversor." Lois said with her teeth clenched.

"Lex is bringing Doomsday back to life."

Lois' jaw dropped. "What?! He's doing that?! Has anything been done to stop him?! What have you guys been doing this entire time?! Sitting on your butts and watching football games!?!"

"Calm down Lois. We're going to check it out next week."

"I think it's too late."

"What do you mean?"

"Love was at the hospital with Caleb while me and Clark came to the Planet. While we were there, Lex called us and practically said that he had Caleb."

Bruce didn't say anything for a moment. "We'll find him Lois. I'll get the team together and we'll help Clark look for him."

Lois let out a shaky breath. She didn't need all this excitement right now. "Thanks Bruce." Lois hung up the phone and started driving off. Now there was one other number she was going to have to call. She dialed the number and there was one ring before the answer.

"Hey Mom."

"Love, where are you?"

"Um…I'm at the hospital."

Lois scoffed. She was a terrible liar, just like Clark. "Then why do I hear men yelling in the background."

Love sighed. "All right. I'm looking for Caleb. I stopped at a park and there are some guys here playing soccer."

"Love, I need you to go to the hospital and stay there with Evelyn."

"But Mom!"

"No Love! You're going to do as I say or else there will be consequences. I don't care what you say, you are going to stay at the hospital until either me or your dad shows up."

Lois could hear Love's defeated sigh. "Mom, I'm really worried about him."

"I know Lovely."

"He started complaining about a really loud buzzing…What if it's my fault."

Lois closed her eyes for a moment when Love mentioned the buzzing. That's why Lex was testing the frequency levels. "It's not your fault Lovely. We'll find him and everything will be fine. Now go with your sister and don't do anything that I would do."

Love chuckled slightly. "Call me when you find him."

"Of course. Now go."

"I love you."

"Love you too. Give Evelyn a kiss for me."

Lois hung up the phone. She looked at the red traffic light in front of her. How could things be going on normally when it seemed like her world was collapsing around itself? "Please be careful Smallville." she whispered in the night air.

* * *

Clark flew over all of Metropolis trying to find something, anything indicating where Caleb might be. It had been a long an excruciating five minutes and he was beginning to fear the worse. This just couldn't be happening.

Clark heard something like heavy breathing and then a yell like that of a beast. Clark remembered it from somewhere. His breath caught in his throat as he recalled the day. Doomsday. Lex really brought him back. Clark began flying in that direction. He prayed that Caleb was nowhere near Doomsday as he shot through the sky.

"Please be careful Smallville." Clark heard Lois whisper.

Clark smiled grimly. He didn't know how careful he could be.

* * *

Eddie looked at the screen that showed a shot of the sky around them. He looked at the next screen that showed the room where Caleb was in. He was passed out on the floor, the glass separating him and Doomsday was cracking slowly. "Lex, shouldn't we pull him out?"

Lex looked to see what Eddie was talking about. He smirked. "No. That's exactly the way we want it. Let him be helpless. It'll make the decision all the worse."

Eddie could feel a small amount of guilt inside of him. This kid couldn't be more than six and already he was in a life-threatening situation. Maybe this whole thing really was inhumane.

Lex saw a red and blue blur on the first screen. "He's finally here."

* * *

Evelyn tried her best to pay attention to every word that Josh was saying, but she was having a hard time concentrating. Her chest was hurting more than usual.

Josh frowned as Evelyn began moaning softly. "Are you hurting?"

Evelyn grimaced. "Just a little. Nothing I can't deal with." she said as she shrugged it off. "Do you know where Love and Caleb went?" she readjusted herself on the bed again.

"Love didn't tell me anything and I think Caleb might be wandering around the hospital." Josh didn't want to tell her that there might be a possibility that Caleb was missing.

The door opened and Love walked in.

"Speaking of the devil…" Evelyn said with a smile.

Love gave a small smile back, but it wasn't completely sincere. Evelyn and Josh could tell that something was seriously wrong.

"Love, what's wrong?" Evelyn asked.

Love perked up and put on a mask. "Nothing. Why do you think something's wrong?"

"Because of the look on your face." Josh stated.

"It's nothing that we need to worry about." Love said calmly. She grabbed the remote from Evelyn's bedside. "Let's watch something funny. I really need to laugh right now."

Josh and Evelyn exchanged worried glances as Love settled on an old cartoon. They let Love keep her secret.

* * *

Clark's feet hit the ground with a loud thud as he looked at the door in front of him. It was the entrance to the compound where Doomsday was held. He ripped off the door and stepped inside. There was a long hallway and at the end, he saw Lex standing there with his hands behind his back.

Clark sped towards Lex and grabbed him by the shirt. "Where is he?!" he demanded.

"If I told you right away, then that would be no fun." Lex said.

"Quit your games and tell me where he is."

Lex furrowed his brows. "Who are you talking about?"

Clark lifted Lex up off the ground and began choking him. "You know who I'm talking about."

"Oh yeah." Lex choked out. "Put me down and I'll take you to him."

Clark clenched his jaw as he considered whether it would be wise to follow Lex. In the end, he set him down and waited for him to start walking.

Lex nodded approvingly and started walking down the hallway.

Clark followed him quietly, fully expecting Lex to pull out kryptonite on him. They reached a door and Lex pushed aside a large board that revealed a window. Clark saw Caleb on the floor unconscious and Doomsday was close to breaking the window and getting Caleb. Clark was about to rip off the door, but Lex stopped him.

"Think about this decision Kent. That door is the only thing keeping Doomsday from destroying Metropolis _again_. It's a very sturdy door and won't break easily. If Doomsday stays in there, my staff will be able to take care of him and you don't have to do anything. If you get Caleb, you'll be releasing Doomsday. But if you leave him in there, then you save the world and the only person missing would be Caleb Joseph Kent."

"You twisted son of a-"

There was a sound of shattering glass. Doomsday broke through the window and was now heading towards Caleb. Lex smirked. "Make your decision now Kent."

Clark didn't have to think twice about what had to be done. He ripped off the door and picked up Caleb in his arms. He turned to Doomsday and blasted his heat vision at him. It gave Clark enough time to take off and find a safe place for Caleb. He knew exactly where to take him.

* * *

Chloe looked at the clock. It was late and Jimmy still wasn't home yet. He said that he was going to come home early so they could visit Evelyn. But the twins were already in bed and Jimmy hadn't even called to say he was going to be late.

There was a knock at Chloe's window. She got up wondering who would be trying to come in through the window. She pulled back the curtains and saw Clark dressed as Superman holding Caleb in his arms. "Oh my gosh." she said as she opened the window. Clark stepped inside. "Clark…I mean Superman," Chloe had to remember Julie and Joanne were still up and might come in. "What's going on?"

"Lex, he had Caleb and Doomsday in the same room. I had to go in there and get him."

Chloe didn't need Clark to explain more. "And when you went to get Caleb, you let Doomsday out."

"Please take care of him and let Lois and Love know that he's fine. He just got scared and passed out."

"No problem."

Clark laid Caleb down on her bed and stepped outside the window.

"Superman wait."

Clark stopped for a minute and waited for Chloe to speak.

"Please be careful. You have to survive this for the kids and Lois. You can't leave her to raise another baby alone. And don't forget the adoption process of the twins."

Clark smiled grimly. Where did Lois find the time to tell Chloe all about this? "Don't worry Chloe. I promise I'll be back."

* * *

Oliver stood on top of a skyscraper with Bart beside him. Bruce was on a different skyscraper. They were all looking out for the same thing.

"Do you see anything Bats?" Bart asked over the radio.

"Nothing, not even a small robbery. It's way too quiet." came the staticy reply.

Oliver grimaced as he saw the familiar red and blue blur fly across the city. "He knows Doomsday's out there."

"And he's going to try and take him on, isn't he?" Bart asked.

Oliver looked at Bart standing next to him. Oliver always thought Bart looked ridiculous in his uniform, but now everything seemed so serious. "He will, but we're going to help him."

* * *

Clark flew back to the warehouse, but he could see traces of Doomsday going towards Metropolis. Clark turned around and began following the tracks. He could hear people yelling and screaming, all of them running for their lives. Clark pushed himself to go faster until he arrived at the scene.

It was barely five miles in Metropolis. Doomsday was there and he was already causing destruction. People saw Clark coming down and they all let out cheers of joy. Their savior had come.

Clark touched the ground and Doomsday turned to face Clark. Neither did anything for a few breaths. They just stood there, preparing themselves for the battle that was sure to ensue. Clark clenched his fists and charged towards Doomsday. He was going to end this once and for all.

* * *

Lois drove all through town, but she couldn't find any sign of Caleb or anything that might led her to Lex.

Her phone began buzzing and she picked it up. It was Chloe. "Hey Chloe." she said, trying not to sound upset.

"Lois, I heard about Caleb."

"Yeah. If you find out anything-"

"Clark came and dropped him off. He's all right, he just passed out. He'll be fine, it actually seems like he's waking up."

"Oh my goodness." Lois felt as if she could breath easier. "Thank you so much Chloe! I'm on my way right now."

They said their good byes and Lois turned the car around. She turned on the radio to her favorite rock station to try and calm her still frazzled nerves.

"…breaking news, it seems as if the creature dubbed Doomsday has returned. Originally, the Red-Blue Blur took care of him, but somehow he managed to come back alive. Now, Metropolis' newest super hero, Superman, is in downtown Metropolis battling this creature. We'll go to…"

Lois shut off the radio after she heard that news. Clark was fighting Doomsday again. She made a giant u-turn and sped towards downtown. He knew that Doomsday could kill him and yet he was going to do it anyways.

* * *

Bruce looked through the binoculars again. He could hear a rumbling coming from somewhere, but he didn't know where it was coming from. "Arrow, do you have a reading on where that rumbling's coming from?" he spoke into the radio.

"I think so. Let me zoom in for a minute."

Bruce waited for Oliver to continue.

Oliver let out a curse. "Clark's down there and he's trying to take Doomsday down by himself."

Bruce put down his binoculars and held the radio. They didn't need to waste any time. "We're going in now. You know the plan." Bruce turned off the radio and grabbed his grappling hook. He didn't know how they were going to pull off this plane, but there was going to have to be some way to do it. Either way, they weren't about to leave Clark down there to deal with Doomsday alone.

* * *

Evelyn looked outside the window in her room. Love had fallen asleep and Josh was starting to doze off. She could tell that it was cold outside from the fog around the edges. Small flakes of snow began falling outside. It was the first snow of the winter.

She wondered where Clark, Lois, and Caleb were. She didn't understand why Love was letting Caleb wander around the hospital alone and unattended. She shrugged her shoulders and grabbed the remote from underneath Love's hand. She began flipping though the channels, but all they were showing was something going on in Metropolis. From what she could tell from flipping the channels, there was a big fire going on in downtown Metropolis and there also seemed to be something that was throwing cars. Evelyn finally paused on a channel to see what was going on.

The scene was focused on a reporter at the moment, but the camera zoomed in on the scene. Evelyn gasped and she could feel her chest hurting horribly. A creature she had learned was Doomsday was there and he was fighting Superman, her dad.

* * *

A/N: I know it's sort of a short chapter, but that just seemed like a really good place to end it. I'll try and update this real soon, my summer schedule is really out of wack right now. Thank you everyone for the reviews. Continue leaving comments for me to read!


	20. Doom

Doom

Caleb opened his eyes and he started rubbing his head. He remembered seeing that ugly monster trying to break the glass. Caleb shot up and started looking around nervously. His breathing was heavy and his heart beat was fast.

He looked around and noticed that there were a bunch of pictures of Jimmy, Chloe, Julie, Joanne, Christopher, and Charles. He must've ended up in Chloe's and Jimmy's room, but how did he get here?

The door opened and Chloe came in with a glass of water. She smiled when she saw Caleb up. "Hey there, how you feeling?"

"Where's Daddy?" Caleb asked in a scared voice.

"He's busy right now." Chloe took a seat and gave Caleb the water. "Drink this."

Caleb took the glass and drank it all. "Where's Mommy then?"

"She's busy too."

"Is the boogie monster gone?" Caleb asked as his eyes darted around the room.

Chloe had to think moment, wondering who he was talking about, but she remembered Doomsday. "No, he's not here. You're safe, nothing can hurt you here."

"I wanna go see Evelyn and Love." Caleb said in a whining tone.

"Caleb, your dad wants you to stay here. We can take you over there once your mom or dad calls."

The door opened. "Mom! You won't…" it was Julie and Joanne at the door, but they stopped when they saw Caleb.

"What's Caleb doing here?" Joanne asked.

"Your Uncle Clark brought him over for me to watch him. What's wrong and why aren't you two in bed?" Chloe asked in a motherly tone.

Joanne wondered why Clark would bring Caleb over at such a late time, but Julie didn't think much of it. "You won't believe what's going on right now!" Julie exclaimed as she grabbed the remote to the TV. She turned it on and flipped it to the news channel.

"…battle to the death as it seems that neither one will give up." said a male reporter holding a microphone. They showed a scene of Superman battling with Doomsday.

Caleb let out a small scream. "That's the boogie monster!! He's hitting Daddy!" he screamed as he climbed into Chloe's lap and buried his face in her shoulder. Small tears started coming out of his eyes.

Julie and Joanne didn't understand what Caleb was talking about. They didn't see Clark on the TV screen anywhere.

"Julie, Joanne, go to bed right now!" Chloe said firmly as she rubbed Caleb's back soothingly.

"What's going on though?" Julie asked.

"Girls, go!" Chloe said shortly. "And turn off the TV!"

Julie and Joanne exchanged a look before they turned off the TV and went back to their room.

"Is Daddy going to be okay?" Caleb asked between sobs.

Chloe sighed. She didn't want to tell him that she didn't know. That might break his heart. "He'll be fine. When he's done, he's going to come and get you and you two are going to go flying."

Caleb stopped crying and looked at Chloe. "Really Aunt Chlo?"

"Really."

Caleb smiled and gave Chloe a big hug. Chloe felt guilt inside of her. She couldn't tell him the truth, but a lie would probably hurt just as bad.

* * *

Lois stopped her car in an alley that was close to Clark. She stepped out of the car and started running towards them. As she ran, she prayed that Clark was all right. She didn't know what she was going to do without him. She passed the police barricades and climbed over the rubble.

Where she stood, she had a clear view of everything that was going on. Doomsday held Superman's head in his hands as he delivered punch after punch to his stomach. Superman's face was badly battered and his suit was torn with blood coming out of several places.

"Lois?"

Lois looked behind her and saw Jimmy with his camera. His face was covered in dirt, but other than that he looked fine. "Jimmy? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I was going back home when I heard all this commotion. I grabbed my camera and started driving down here. What about you? Shouldn't you be at the hospital?"

Lois scoffed. "I probably should be at the hospital." she turned around and watched the fight again. She fought her natural instinct to go out there and try helping. "How long has it been like this?"

"For a few minutes. At first it seemed like Superman was winning, but now…well, you can see for yourself."

Doomsday let go of Superman and he fell to the ground like a rag doll. His face hit the asphalt and he made no signs of getting up or at least trying.

Tears filled up Lois' eyes. "Come on, get up. Please." she mumbled.

He must've heard her because he lifted his head and looked directly in her direction. Jimmy was snapping away with his camera, but Lois kept her eyes locked with Clark's blue eyes.

Superman punched the ground and sent a shockwave that made Doomsday collapse. The fight wasn't going to end that easily. Superman charged towards the fallen Doomsday, but he stood up. Superman punched his gut and sent Doomsday barreling backwards.

He stopped himself and gained his balance. Doomsday started running towards Superman, but before he could hit him, a small explosion fell between them and a cloud of smoke separated them.

Lois smiled as she saw Batman, Green Arrow and Flash come out of the shadows. Bruce really came through this time.

* * *

Superman was a bit shocked to see the smoke come in front of them, but then he heard someone stand beside him. "This is my battle Batman." he said as he clenched his fists, preparing himself to deal with Doomsday.

"Yeah, but you're going to need help. I've got Arrow and Flash right behind me. We're all going to help you." Batman said as he went into a ready position.

"There's a possibility you're going to get hurt." Superman added.

"I know. We're still going to help you. You've got three kids, one on the way and two coming in from the Philippines."

"How did you know?"

"Lois doesn't tell just Chloe."

There was a loud roar. Doomsday ran through the smoke and Green Arrow was on his back trying to get him down. Flash was speeding around him delivering punches.

"Let's do this." Superman said as he flew at top sped towards Doomsday.

* * *

Evelyn continued watching the fight. Tears filled up her eyes as it became apparent that Doomsday was winning. Superman was getting a beating.

Something happened that surprised her. Smoke filled the screen and when it cleared, Batman, Green Arrow and Flash were beside Superman. They were all helping Superman take down Doomsday.

Relief swept through her body, but she still felt as if something very wrong was about to happen. An ache in her chest became sharp. She breathed in a short breath of air and let it go. Just breathing was hurting her chest. She looked at Love and Josh. They were still asleep. She longed for them to be up so she could have a distraction, but they weren't.

"Flash, cover me!" yelled Batman as he started running towards Doomsday.

Flash stopped circling Doomsday and instead brought Doomsday attention to him by punching him repeatedly. Superman was flying above them delivering punches to Doomsday's face. Green Arrow was still on his back trying to get at least one arm behind his back.

Doomsday was getting frustrated. These men were all over the place. But he could shake them off easily. Doomsday stretched his arm and grabbed Green Arrow by the neck. Green Arrow began struggling against him.

"Arrow!" Flash exclaimed as he stopped for a moment. Doomsday used that moment to kick Flash. Flash went flying in mid-air before he landed on the concrete. He didn't get up.

Doomsday tossed Green Arrow in a different direction and, like Flash, Green Arrow didn't get up.

Doomsday turned his attention to Batman who was still charging at him. He lifted up one of his giant feet and stomped it hard on the concrete. It created a shockwave and Batman fell to the ground.

"Batman, get out of here! Make sure Arrow and Flash are okay!" Superman yelled as he continued flying from either side of Doomsday punching him.

"Not yet, Superman." Batman said as he struggled to stand up.

Superman stopped to make sure Batman was all right, but as he stopped, Doomsday grabbed him by the neck. He lifted him up as Superman struggled against his grip. Doomsday squeezed his neck before he threw him to the ground.

"Superman!" Batman yelled. He stood up and began attacking Doomsday. It seemed to have no affect on the killing machine as he punched Batman on the jaw. Batman flew back and was knocked out.

Doomsday walked towards Superman. He knew that Superman wasn't dead. At least not yet.

Superman began groaning as he tried to get up. He couldn't. He was too weak. And what about the men? They had risked their lives and yet Doomsday was still alive. Superman was able to sit up and as he did, he burst into a coughing fit. He spat up blood. That was never a good sign. Superman wiped his mouth and stood up bravely.

Doomsday may have been weakened, but he was still too strong. Superman took a few feeble steps before he collapsed to the ground. Exhaustion was taking over his body slowly. He tried to think about his family. Lois, Evelyn, Love, Caleb, Esmeralda, Katrina, his unborn child. He wondered who the baby would look like.

Doomsday grabbed Superman by the cape and held him up like a toy. Superman reached out and grabbed Doomsday by the waist and he took off into the air with him. They fought as they continued flying up, the world becoming smaller with every passing second. Superman shot one last beam of heat aimed at Doomsday. It hit him directly in the chest and he continued blasting him until his ability gave out.

Doomsday was weakened by this blow and his punches became weaker after every moment. Superman punched Doomsday one last time until finally the monster was defeated.

Superman felt peace up there in space as he looked down at the dead Doomsday. It was the last thing he remembered seeing before he pummeled towards Earth. Images of his past, his family, everyone he ever knew came flashed before his eyes. They were safe and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Lois watched with wide eyes as Doomsday continued taking each of the men out. Superman was now the only one left standing.

Jimmy put down his camera and looked to Lois. "Is he going to be able to do this?" he asked. Uncertainty was like a cloud hanging over him.

Lois fought back tears and wrapped her arms around herself. It was too cold and the snow was just making things worse. "He better. He has to." she said, her voice breaking with the last sentence she spoke. Her hand traveled to her stomach where a baby was being protected. He has to pull through this, if anything for the new baby. It needed to know its daddy.

A sonic boom sounded as Superman took off into space with Doomsday. Both Lois and Jimmy stood up and watched along with the crowd of spectators as Superman and Doomsday undoubtedly fought in space.

Jimmy started snapping photos again. Lois ran towards Batman and knelt by his side. "Batman?"

Batman groaned and opened his eyes. "Where are they?" he asked.

Lois looked around and a tear came down. "I don't know. Superman went up into space with Doomsday."

Batman tried his best to sit up and succeeded. "How long have they been gone?"

"They just took off." Lois said as she looked up at the night sky with a worried look.

"Look!" Jimmy yelled as he pointed towards something in the sky.

There was a large blazing ball coming down. It landed with a large boom further down the street. "No." Lois mumbled as a few tears fell from her eyes. She left Batman and ran towards the impact site.

A large crater was all she saw. Dread filled her as she started climbing down inside of it. She saw a dead Doomsday and she felt her heart swell with pride. Her Smallville had defeated him. That pride was gone when she saw a bloodied being in the ground. It was Superman, Clark, her Smallville.

Lois ran to him and grabbed him in her arms. He was bleeding everywhere and his face was horrible. He started coughing out blood. "He's dead?" Superman managed to mumble out.

Lois smiled through the tears. He was always putting others before him. "Yeah. You did it. Doomsday's dead."

Superman smiled, showing the blood that was coming from his mouth. "Good." the smile faded and his body went limp.

Lois felt panic spread through her body. "No, you're fine. You're going to be fine." Lois felt for a pulse, but she couldn't find one. Her heart dropped. Every sound around her was muffled as if it were under water. He wasn't responsive. Nothing that she could do would wake him up. He was gone.

"Ma'am! Ma'am, please, we need to get you out of here!" Lois could hear someone yelling at her.

Lois didn't pay any attention to them. She hugged Superman close to her and began crying silently. Her tears showed no sign of letting up. She had just lost the only man that she ever truly loved.

* * *

Lex sat in the conference room of the warehouse. In front of him was a large TV showing what happened to Superman.

As the words 'Superman Dead' flashed on the screen Lex felt joy come over him. He finally reached his goal. He thought about this for a moment. His goal was finally met. If that was finally met, what else was there to do for him?

The TV showed a previously recorded scene. Doomsday had just thrown Batman and was dealing with Superman. Maybe he could start planning to destroy Batman. Yeah, that could be his new hobby. Destroying all of the super freaks.

Lex got up from his chair and stepped out of the conference room. Eddie was out there waiting for him. "Is everyone out?" Lex asked as he closed the door.

"Yes." Eddie replied.

"And the evidence?"

"All the papers are shredded and are gathered in one room."

Lex nodded his head with approval. "Good. Burn this place."

Eddie waited for Lex to walk out the doors leading outside. Once Lex was gone, Eddie grabbed the can full of gasoline. He walked up and down all the hallways pouring out the gasoline. Eddie reached the same doors that Lex has just walked out from.

His hand reached in his pocket and he pulled out a match. Eddie lit it and watched the flame for a second. It was amazing how much a fire could erase. Eddie opened the door and put one foot out. He threw the match down the hallway and quickly left the building. As he ran away from the sight, an explosion rattled the ground. The building was in flames, along with all the evidence.

* * *

Evelyn watched the TV screen with horror as it showed a large crater in the ground. The camera zoomed in and on the screen was Lois hugging a battered Superman in her arms. Tears were pouring out of her eyes.

The camera switched views to a reporter. "Reports are coming in that Doomsday is dead, but along with him, Metropolis' newest superhero, Superman, has died also."

That was all Evelyn needed to hear. She began hyperventilating. This couldn't be happening. It was just too surreal. "No, no he's not…" Tears began coming down.

Love moaned in her sleep and opened her eyes. "Evelyn?" Love saw the tears on her face. "What's wrong?" she asked as she sat up straight.

"Dad…he's…" Evelyn couldn't get it out as she burst into sobs.

Love looked to the TV screen. At the bottom in bright yellow letters was 'Superman Dead.'

Love could feel her world crashing around. Was it true? It couldn't be. Clark couldn't die like that! Love sat there in shocked silence.

The heat monitor on Evelyn began speeding up considerably. Josh woke up because of the beeping. When he saw Evelyn crying and Love's pale complexion, he knew something bad had just happened. He was about to ask what, but then he looked to the TV screen. He read what Love had just finished reading.

Evelyn inhaled sharply and the heart monitor began flat lining.

"Evelyn? Evelyn!" Love exclaimed as she grabbed Evelyn's hand.

Several nurses came in and a doctor. They had a defibulator with them.

"Code Blue! I have a Code Blue in room 63!" a nurse yelled over the intercom.

"You two, get out of here now!" ordered the doctor. A nurse grabbed them both and pushed them both out. They shut the door in their faces and closed the blinds.

"Evelyn!" Love yelled as she pounded on the door.

Josh just stood there in stunned silence. Evelyn was going to make it. She had to.

Love stopped and stared at the windows with the closed blinds. The only thing that she could hear was her own heart pounding in her ears. Tears were slowly beginning to come down, but she made no noise. Josh saw how much she was struggling and he grabbed her hand. "Love, it's going to be all right. Evelyn's going to make it through. After she does, you, Caleb, you're mom and dad can have a great time."

Love just cried even harder. Josh didn't understand that when Superman died, so did their dad.

Josh managed to bring Love to a seat in the waiting area as she continued crying. Many people passing by gave her sympathetic looks. They understood that she had lost someone dear to her, but they just didn't know who.

The door to Evelyn's room opened and Love stood up immediately. She met the doctor not even halfway. "Is Evelyn…? Is she fine?" Josh caught up with her and stood behind her.

The doctor looked uneasily from Love to Josh. "We were able to get her heart stabilized again…"

Love wiped at some of her tears that were still coming down. "But…?"

"She slipped into a coma."

Love felt her heart stop. There was just too many things happening. This had to be some kind of sick joke. She wasn't going to believe it. "No, there has to be something that you can do! You can't just leave her like this!"

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing that we can do. The only thing left to do is hope she wakes up." the doctor didn't even attempt to smile at her. This was going to be hard enough. He left before Love could say anything.

Love watched the doctor walking down the hallway. How could he be so nonchalant about this? Her sister was in a coma! Love turned around and looked at Josh. He was holding his tears at bay.

Love couldn't do it anymore. She broke down completely. Her legs gave way and she slid to the ground. Josh bent down and held her in his arms. Why was this happening?

* * *

Chloe's hand went to her mouth as she sunk to the floor. Superman defeated Doomsday, yes, but he didn't make it. Tears seeped through her eyes at the fact that she had just lost her best friend. The man that helped her and Jimmy get back together, the man that gave her cousin so much happiness in her life. Clark was gone.

Chloe looked at her bed where Caleb was sleeping. How was he going to take this news? Was she supposed to tell him or should she wait for Lois to get here? She got up from the floor and took a seat on the bed.

She watched the TV for a bit longer. The news reporter said that both Green Arrow and Flash were being treated with several injuries. Batman had refused any kind of treatment. Instead, he was trying to get Lois away from the dead Superman. The words they spoke couldn't be heard and instead there was a voice-over from a TV reporter. Chloe couldn't imagine all the emotions going through Lois at that moment.

"Lois, you have to let him go."

Lois could feel someone gently grab her shoulder. She looked up and saw Batman. "How can I?" she whispered.

"I'm so sorry Lois, but the press is going to get suspicious." Batman said as he looked around. All ready some photographers were taking pictures. He looked to where Jimmy was hidden. He was the only photographer not taking any pictures. He seemed too shell-shocked.

Lois gently set Superman down and as she did, a new wave of tears attacked her. Batman grabbed her and led her away. "I'll take you in the Batcar. I'll make sure your car gets picked up."

Lois didn't say any response or even let him know that she heard him. She just continued walking away with the tears coming down freely.

They came up to the Batcar and Batman helped Lois in. When she was safely secured, he took a seat in the driver's side and started the engine. He felt a sharp pain in his ribs. They must've been bruised. He made a mental note to have Alfred check it out when he got back to the mansion. "Where do you want to go?" he asked as he ignored the pain.

Lois looked out the window with tears still coming down. Her tears were about as frequent as the snow. "Take me to Chloe's." she said softly.

Chloe could feel someone tugging her arm. "Aunt Chloe? Aunt Chloe wake up."

Chloe opened her eyes and saw Caleb staring back at her with his wide hazel eyes. "Aunt Chloe, why were you crying?"

Chloe rubbed her eyes, and looked at the TV. It was off. Good, Caleb needed to hear what happened from Lois. "It's nothing."

"When's Daddy going to come back?" he asked as he jumped off the bed and looked out the window.

Chloe could feel a pang go through her heart. "I don't think your daddy's going to come get you. I think your mommy's on her way."

Caleb looked back to Chloe. "Is Daddy okay?"

Chloe forced down tears. "I don't-"

A knock at the door interrupted her and she was grateful for that. She walked out of the room with Caleb following close behind. Chloe looked through the peephole and saw a disheveled Lois. She was wiping away tears. Chloe opened the door. "Lois, are you-"

"Mommy!" Caleb said with a huge smile on his face. He jumped into her arms.

Lois caught him and held her close to him. She closed her eyes and more tears came out. She kissed his cheek and continued holding him.

Caleb pulled away to look at Lois. "Mommy what happened? Why are you crying?"

Lois inhaled sharply. She set him down almost reluctantly. She looked to Chloe. "Could I get some tea or something?" she said in a broken voice.

Chloe nodded and she went to the kitchen to make some tea. It wasn't going to make anything better, but maybe it might help.

Lois grabbed Caleb's hand and led him to the couch. She didn't want to explain any of this, she wished that Caleb could just live in ignorance for a while. It wouldn't be fair to him though. "Caleb, Daddy's not coming back." she said as she tried keeping her voice steady.

Caleb knew something was wrong, but he didn't want to admit it yet. "What happened? Did Daddy kill the boogie monster?"

A bittersweet smile came over Lois' face. "Yeah, he sure did."

"Then where's Daddy? Why isn't he coming back?"

Lois heard her phone ringing. It was Love. She had to tell Caleb later. Love might have some good news on Evelyn. "Love? Is everything all right?" Lois asked as she kept her voice steady.

"Mrs. Kent, this is Josh."

Lois frowned. Why was Josh calling her? "Josh, is everything all right?" Lois could hear someone crying in the background.

"Um, it's Evelyn. I think you should come to the hospital."

Lois tried her best to be hopeful, but after what happened, there wasn't a lot of hope left in her. "What's wrong, Josh?"

"You just really need to come to the hospital." Josh said. He sounded frustrated.

Lois let out a shaky breath. "Tell Love I'm on my way." she said as she hung up the phone.

Chloe came in holding a cup of tea. "Is everything all right?"

Lois sighed as she wiped her forehead. "I don't know. That was Josh, Evelyn and Love's friend, telling me that I needed to come down to the hospital."

"Are you going to need a ride?"

"That would be great. Thanks Chlo." Lois stood up.

Chloe smiled. "No problem. Let me get a coat."

Lois looked at Caleb. He was the exact replica of Clark, except for his hazel eyes. Just like hers. A single tear fell from her eye.

"Mommy, why are you crying?" Caleb asked as he tugged on her pant leg. He didn't understand why he wasn't getting any straight answers around here.

Lois looked down at him and smiled. "Come here." she spoke softly as she bent down and picked him up. Caleb rested his head on her shoulder. Tonight had been so long for him.

Chloe came out of her room dressed and with a coat. "Ready?"

Lois nodded as she followed Chloe out the door.

* * *

Josh paced back and forth. He had called Lois with Love's phone about thirty minutes ago. Love had fallen asleep fifteen minutes ago, but he couldn't keep still.

Evelyn in a coma. It wasn't right. He'd never be able to see if they could have something more. He had been too scared to lose the friendship that they had.

Josh stopped and looked at Love. Tears were seeping out of her closed eyelids every few minutes. This was tragic for her, but he felt as if there was something else, some other reason of why she was so sad.

"Josh!"

Josh turned around and saw Lois holding Caleb in her arms. Chloe was following them, but keeping her distance. Lois looked like she had just come out of combat. "Mrs. Kent." Josh started walking towards her.

"Is Evelyn all right?" Lois asked as she readjusted Caleb in her arms. He had fallen asleep on the way and still wasn't awake.

"Um, something happened to Evelyn while you and Mr. Kent were away."

Lois forced herself to react naturally to Josh speaking of Clark as if he were still alive. "What happened Josh?" she hated it that he just wouldn't spill it.

"She flat-lined," Josh saw Lois' hopes shatter across her face. "But the doctors were able to get her heart beating again. The only thing is that she slipped into a coma."

Lois felt her heart skip a beat. "A coma?"

"I'm really sorry Mrs. Kent." Josh said with tears in his eyes.

"Where's Love?" she asked as she tried to ignore the emotional pain.

Josh stepped aside and let Lois see Love. She was spread out on four chairs asleep. Lois walked to Love and took a seat. She sat Caleb down gently and began stroking Love's hair. "Lovely? Lovely wake up" Lois whispered.

Love began stirring. She opened her eyes. "Mom?" she asked a bit groggily. Love sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Hey there." Lois said with tears threatening to come down. After all the crying she had done, she didn't think that she would have any more left.

"Mom!" Love threw her arms around Lois and began sobbing into her neck. "Dad…is he really…?" Love whispered.

Lois nodded as a few tears came out. "Have the doctors told you anything?"

Love shook her head. "Nothing." Love pulled away from Lois and looked at her stomach. "The baby?"

Lois looked at her with confusion. "How did you-"

"I overheard you and Dad talking about it."

Lois smiled slightly through the tears. "I think he's safe." she said as she placed her hand on her stomach.

A nurse came up to them. "Visiting hours are over ma'am. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Lois stood up. There was no way she was about to leave right now. "No, I'm staying here."

"Ma'am, we have our rules."

"You have no idea what kind of day I've had and then I come to the hospital and find out my daughter is in a coma. I am going to stay the night here with her and so is my family."

The nurse looked around. "All right. But you can't leave the room."

Lois smiled her thankfulness. "Thank you."

The nurse nodded and walked away. "Love, take Caleb into Evelyn's room. I'll be there in a minute."

Love nodded and did what Lois instructed. Lois walked over to Chloe and Josh. "Josh, thank you for staying here with Love."

"It was no problem. Please tell me if anything changes with Evelyn." he said with genuine concern.

"You'll be one of the first to know." Lois reassured. She could tell from the red around his eyes that he had been crying.

Josh said good bye and left the hospital.

Lois turned to Chloe. "I'm going to stay the night here. The nurse said I could so long as I don't leave the room."

Chloe nodded. "Are you going to fine?"

Lois sighed. "I don't know…I need him here with me."

Chloe hugged Lois tightly. "We all needed him."

Lois pulled apart. Chloe didn't know how much _Lois _needed him though. "I'll call you later."

Chloe walked away and left Lois alone in the hallway. Lois sighed as she walked into the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and threw up a few times before she cried with all her heart.

* * *

a/n: sorry about the long wait. i'll try and be sure it doesn't happen again! i hope this lived up to your expectations. the fight scenes were pretty hard for me and i don't know if they were good enough. anyways, hope you enjoyed it and please leave your thoughts. thank you!


	21. Peace

Peace

_Beep…beep…beep…_

Love shifted in the chair, hearing the beeping. It sounded as if her alarm was going off. She reached out her hand and tried hitting the snooze button. Her hand connected with nothing, but air. The beeping was starting to becoming so annoying. Love wondered why the beeping wasn't speeding up like it normally would when she wouldn't hit the snooze button after fifteen seconds. She opened her eyes and drank in her surroundings with a sad sigh. She wasn't in her home. She was in a cold place where death filled the halls.

Love sat up straight and realized that they had spent the entire night there. The sun was rising and shining over the freshly laid blanket of snow. It was so dreary, but beautiful. Lois was sitting in a chair with Caleb in her lap. They were both asleep. Evelyn looked peaceful in her coma state. Love just hoped that she wasn't feeling any kind of pain.

Love stretched out her arms and stood up to stretch her legs. Her eyes felt so heavy as she walked to the window. She remembered such a long time ago that Evelyn would sit by the hospital window waiting for Kara to come back with Clark. Love hoped that Clark was going to come flying in any moment and everything would be better again.

There was a knock at the door and Love turned around a bit startled. She didn't want to get the door. She didn't want anyone's condolences right now.

Lois woke up and gently set Caleb down. She got up and opened it. "Bruce?" you could tell that Lois had barely woken up.

Bruce gave her a sympathetic smile, but he groaned slightly. He could hardly smile thanks to a black eye. "Chloe told me what happened."

Lois looked over to Evelyn. "Yeah." she closed her eyes and fought off a wave of tears. "I don't know what to do Bruce. First Clark, now Evelyn…" her voice began breaking.

Bruce pulled Lois into a hug and she gladly welcomed it as she wrapped her arms around him. When she had been with Bruce while she was pregnant with Love, he had been a rock for her. He was going to have to be a rock for her again.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Bruce said. He looked over to Love who was looking on in semi-interest. "In private."

Lois nodded and turned to Love. "Can you watch your brother? Make sure he doesn't leave the room." she said.

Love nodded her head and went to sit next to Caleb. She didn't know if she could do that. Last time, Caleb had disappeared. Clark had to go look for him.

As Love was walking towards Caleb, she stopped. If she had been taking better care of Caleb last night, then Clark wouldn't have gone to look for him. If Clark had never went to look for him, he never would've found Doomsday. He would still be alive. It was her fault. This was all her fault.

Love sunk into the chair feeling numb. Her fault.

* * *

Lois followed Bruce out into the hallway and the two walked into an empty room. Bruce closed the door.

"Are you all right? I mean…you took a nice beating last night…" Lois said softly.

Bruce nodded his head. "I've just got a few bruised ribs. I'll get over it."

Lois grimaced. Bruce was going to get better. Bart and Oliver were probably already recuperating. But Clark…there wasn't any chance.

"J'onn took the body to the Fortress." Bruce interrupted Lois' thoughts.

She cringed when Bruce said 'body.' It wasn't right. None of this was right. "Did he say that there was any possible chance of him…coming back?" Lois asked with hope filling her body. It had been done before.

Bruce shook his head sadly. "He's really gone."

Lois closed her eyes and nodded. Of course it was silly to think that.

"I know that with Evelyn being in a coma, it's hard for you, and losing Clark also. You might have a hard time really grieving for him openly since the world doesn't know that he is…um, was…Superman. I've arranged a story for the death of _Clark_. All you have to do is give the word and I'll put it through. You can have a real funeral for him. Oliver and I are willing to pay for everything."

Lois sighed as she sank into a chair. This was way too much for her to handle right now, but there was no other time. When else were they going to be able to do it? "What are you going to tell people?"

"Clark went to Coast City to visit a friend. On the way, his car fell off a cliff. His body hasn't been recovered."

"The world won't know that he died a hero." Lois said softly. She didn't think it was possible, but tears were forming in her eyes. She had thought that she spent up all her tears last night as she cried herself to sleep, holding Caleb tightly.

"Yes, but the people he cared for will know the truth." Bruce said as he kneeled in front of Lois.

"I just don't know what to do Bruce." Lois said as tears began falling.

Bruce leaned in and gave her a hug. Lois welcomed it and hugged him tightly. He grimaced as she hugged him. She was squeezing his ribs a little too tightly. "It'll be okay Lois. You'll get through."

Lois nodded into his shoulder.

"Um, I also could make arrangements for Evelyn to be sent to Wayne Manor. I could get the equipment she needs and you, Love and Caleb could stay there. I know how much you hate hospitals."

He was right. Lois had seen too many hospitals in her life. Maybe being someplace that was filled with friends and family could help them more. "That'd be nice." Lois said quietly as she wiped away some of her tears. "Do you think that you can get Alfred to be her doctor?" she asked. She didn't trust any doctor to treat her children.

"I can get anyone that you want."

"Can it possibly be done before the end of today?" Lois didn't want to spend any more time here. Everything here just reminded her of how much she had lost.

Bruce smiled. "I'd figured you'd want it done before the end of the day. Alfred's already setting up the equipment and I've got a few more paper to get signed."

Lois stood up and so did Bruce. "Thank you so much Bruce."

"I'm always here to help." Bruce said with a sincere smile. They walked out of the room and Bruce gave her a hug. "I'll see you guys in a little bit."

Lois walked out of his embrace and they started walking opposite ways down the hallway. She stopped in front of the window to Evelyn's room. The doctors had said it would be best if they kept an oxygen mask on her. While she was in a coma, her body was still having problems breathing normally. It was just to ensure her survival. Love was sitting down in the chair next to Caleb and it seemed as if she had just finished crying. Right now, she was trying her best to fight off sleep. Caleb was still sleeping soundlessly. He didn't know everything that had happened. Lois was going to have to tell him soon.

She opened the door and Love lifted her head. She gave her a slight smile, but it wasn't very warm.

"Good morning, Lovely." Lois said as she gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

Love gave a wry smile. What was so good about this morning?

"We're going to be moving Evelyn to Wayne Manor." Lois said as she took a seat.

Love nodded her head and let out a shaky breath.

Lois gave her a curious look. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked as she reached over and brushed away some of the hair from Love's face.

Love swallowed the lump forming in her throat. No, she was feeling horrible. Everything that was happening to them was her fault. She had been irresponsible. But Love couldn't find the words to tell Lois. She only nodded her head.

Lois sighed as she brushed away some of Love's hair. She knew that Love wasn't telling her something, but Lois let it go for this moment. She would find out later. Instead, she pulled Love into a hug.

Love let herself be held by Lois. She could feel a small amount of comfort coming from her, but it wasn't enough. This wasn't real. It couldn't be.

* * *

Caleb opened his eyes and saw a few doctors talking with Lois and Bruce. Love was sitting next to him, but she was trying to pay attention to what the grown ups were saying.

He let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes. He had been sleeping for such a long time, but it felt good. He looked at Evelyn. She was still asleep. Caleb wanted to get on her bed and wake her up, but something inside of him told him it might not be a good idea to do that.

"Mommy, where's Daddy?" Caleb spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at him. He noticed that Lois, Love, and Bruce were looking at him with sad looks. He didn't like that. "Mommy?"

Lois excused herself from the discussion and walked to Caleb. She picked him up and hugged him. He could hear her sniffle. "Come on, let's go for a little walk." Lois set him down and grabbed his small hand.

Caleb looked up at him mother with confusion and worry written in his young eyes. He looked back at Bruce. He had already started talking with the doctors again. Love was sitting with her head in her hands. She looked worn out.

The two walked out of Evelyn's room. Lois grabbed a coat for her and Caleb and they walked outside. They were walking around the hospital grounds, not once did Lois let go of his hand.

Caleb looked up at Lois. "Mommy, how come Daddy hasn't come back yet?"

Lois let out a shaky breath as she prepared herself to tell Caleb. "Do you remember anything about what happened last night?"

Caleb pulled up the memories instantly. He gave Lois a huge smile. "Daddy got rid of the boogie monster!" he said with so much pride in his voice.

Lois gave him a small smile. "He sure did." she stopped at a bench and took a seat.

Caleb gave her a curious look as the smile faded away from her face and was replaced by a sad look. He had a sinking feeling in his gut. Something had happened to his daddy. "What's wrong Mommy?" he asked as he jumped up on the bench and sat down with her.

Lois wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a chill come in through her coat. "Caleb, Daddy's not coming back home." she said softly. More tears were threatening to come down.

Caleb frowned and leaned away from her. "Yes he is. He always comes back. Aunt Chloe said that he was going to come back and take me flying."

Lois choked on a sob as a few tears came out. He was so innocent. How could something like this happen to him, to _them_?

Caleb tried his best to wrap his mind around what Lois was trying to tell him. "Is Daddy…" there was only one word that came to his mind. Dead. His daddy was dead. He remembered finding a tiny lizard on the front porch of the farm. He grabbed it and put it in a jar. He was going to keep it as a pet. A few hours later, he went to check up on the lizard and found that it wasn't moving. He complained to Lois that the lizard wasn't moving and that it was no fun. Lois explained to him that the lizard wasn't going to move anymore. The lizard had died.

Caleb suddenly felt very angry. This was just a very mean joke that they were trying to play on him. Caleb stood up and looked at Lois with a very cross look. "No. Daddy's not dead!" he balled up his fists as he yelled.

"Caleb, please…" Lois had woken up with a headache and his yelling wasn't going to help any.

"No! Daddy's going to come back! Watch!" Caleb said as he turned his back to her. He took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs. "DADDY!!!"

"Caleb Joseph Kent, stop yelling!" Lois yelled herself as she stood up. They were starting to make a scene, but neither seemed to notice.

"No! Not until Daddy comes back!!" he took another deep breath and yelled again. "DADD-"

Lois clamped her hand over Caleb's as she lifted him up in her arms. "Enough!"

Caleb looked straight into Lois' eyes with such anger in them, but they started to soften and tears filled them. "I want my Daddy." he said barely above a whisper. He buried his face in Lois' shoulder and poured out his little heart.

Lois rubbed his back soothingly. "I know sweetie. I want him back too." Lois gently swayed back and forth as she held him.

* * *

"Do you have the permission of Mr. Kent to move his daughter?"

Love's head shot up as she looked at the doctor that had spoken. How dare he?! If she could, she would've incinerated that man in a second. She tensed up, feeling threatened for some reason.

Bruce looked at Love and could see the anger burning behind her eyes. "Uh, yes, he knows…" Bruce said awkwardly.

The doctor nodded and wrote something down. "I'll be back in a few minutes." the doctor walked out of the room.

Love was still tense as the doctor left. Bruce walked towards her and took a seat. "Love, calm down. He doesn't know. How could he?"

Love clenched her jaw and crossed her arms. She knew that, but it still hurt. She looked down at the tiling.

"There's something bothering you, isn't there?" Bruce questioned her.

Love's body tensed even more. She didn't want to talk about it. She thought that if she told someone what she had done, they would hate her. All of them. She wouldn't belong anymore. She wouldn't have a family that would love her.

"You may not want to talk about it right now, but if you bottle it up, it won't do any good." Bruce said. "I'm telling you from experience." he said softly.

Love calmed down a little, but she still didn't speak. She didn't know if she wanted to tell anyone.

* * *

Lois came back inside with a sleeping Caleb in her arms. They had been out there for an hour. Caleb had cried for most of it and Lois tried her best to be strong for him.

Bruce was signing some papers when Lois came in and Love had fallen back asleep. Bruce gave the papers back to the doctor and turned to Lois.

Lois set Caleb down on a chair and let him sleep. She looked up at Bruce, waiting for him to tell her the progress.

"I have a helicopter en route to take Evelyn. Alfred's already outside the hospital waiting for us in the limo. We can go ahead and leave right now so that when we get to the mansion, Evelyn will be arriving in the helicopter around the same time."

"Thank you so much Bruce."

There was a soft knock at the door. Love got up and opened it. A faint smile touched her lips when she saw who it was. "Hey Nana."

"Hello Love." Martha said. Her eyes were red and puffy and so was her nose. It looked as if she didn't get much sleep last night.

Love didn't wait for Martha to give her a hug. Love went ahead and did it herself. She squeezed her tightly and shut her eyes and Martha wrapped her arms around her grandchild. After a few moments, Love let go of her and Martha walked to Lois. Immediately, they were in each others arms. There was some comfort from the hug, but it wasn't enough to make the pain go away. There was nothing out there that could take the pain away.

Martha pulled away and wiped at her teary eyes. "Lois, I'm so sorry. Chloe called me and told me what happened with Evelyn. And with Clark…I saw it on the news."

Lois closed her eyes for a half a second. "It's just so hard…" she said in a shaky breath. Her eyes slowly wandered to Love. She had hardly spoken a word today. Lois looked back to Martha then to Bruce. "Uh, you remember Bruce Wayne?" she said as she took a small step back so they could both see each other.

Martha gave him a gracious smile. "Mr. Wayne, it's nice to see you again." "Please, it's Bruce." he said as he shook her hand. "I'm truly sorry about the loss of your son. He was a great man." Bruce said with a grim expression.

Martha had to hold back a wave of tears. It hurt when they would speak of Clark in the past-tense. It was going to be happening from now on, but it was too soon. _He_ had gone too soon.

"Martha, Bruce is having Evelyn transferred to Wayne Manor. We're going to head out there in a few minutes. You could come if you want."

Martha nodded her head as she walked to Evelyn. She grabbed her hand. It was so cold. She went for the blanket at the foot of the bed and spread it over Evelyn.

"We should be heading out already." Bruce said. He picked up the sleeping Caleb and stood in the doorway. He ignored the pain that shot up from his ribs and continued holding Caleb. Love stood up and monotonously started walking out.

Martha went to Lois and grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Everything will be all right." she said.

Lois nodded and Martha walked out. Bruce looked at Lois, waiting for her to follow.

"I'll be down in a few minutes. I kind of want some time with Evelyn." Lois told him.

Bruce nodded in understanding and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Lois let out a heavy breath and took a seat next to Evelyn. She placed her hand over Evelyn's and looked at her. She was so fragile in her hospital gown, with an oxygen mask over her mouth. Lois looked up to the monitors. There was little brain activity and her heart was beating steadily, but slowly. Lois held her breath as she waited for some kind of change in the monitors. Nothing. They stayed the same, showing the same horrible news over and over again. Evelyn was in a coma.

"Evelyn, I want you to listen to me," Lois started in a shaky breath. People would always say that when someone was in a coma, they could still hear what was going on. Lois held onto this saying tightly. "You are going to get better. You're going to wake up and we'll be able to sort through this whole mess together. I'll make sure that Lex Luthor stays in jail permanently." Lois wouldn't have been surprised if he might've cause Evelyn's illness.

Lois smiled fondly as a tear slipped out. She could hear Clark behind her calling Evelyn his little bud. What he always called her. Lois stood up and gave Evelyn a kiss on her forehead. "Please get better honey." Lois walked away from the bed reluctantly and grabbed her coat. She stood in the doorway as she slipped the coat on. She watched Evelyn. She seemed so peaceful, oblivious to the troubles around her. Maybe it was better that she didn't know how bad things were.

* * *

Lex stepped out of the elevator and walked onto the top floor of the Daily Planet. He inhaled deeply and could find that distinct smell of a newsroom. People were bustling about, taking care of all the stories they had. Chasing leads, meeting sources, pulling up ancient files to complete an article. But there was something different in the air. It was more somber. A smile came to Lex as he realized why it was.

It was the morning after the huge showdown between Doomsday and Superman. The morning after the great and rising super hero, Superman, had died as a sacrifice. The morning after Clark Kent had died.

Lex looked up at the TV and focused on what the anchors on the news channel were saying.

"…reports are unclear as to what happened to Superman's body. It was believed that the police had his body, but sources say that they saw an African-American male leaving with the body. Some even claim that he flew off…"

Lex furrowed his brows. He didn't like knowing that Superman's body was missing. Someone might be stupid enough to try and bring him back to life. But Lex doubted it.

His eyes wandered over the newsroom and noticed Lois' desk empty. He didn't think it strange. Clark _had_ been her husband. Of course she was going to take some time off to grieve. Lex also heard that Evelyn had slipped into a coma. It was tragic, yes, but he didn't really care. "Jimmy!" Lex called out.

Jimmy looked up with a surprised expression. He stood up and quickly went to Lex. "Uh, yeah Mr. Luthor." he answered nervously.

"Where's Lois?" Lex already knew the answer, but he asked anyways. He didn't need anyone here getting suspicious. Most of them were investigative journalists.

"Um…Evelyn went into a coma last night." Jimmy remembered Chloe telling him what happened. "I'm pretty sure she's at the hospital."

"Uh-huh. And how many days has she been out?"

"About a week and a half…" Jimmy wasn't liking where this was going.

"How many days of vacation does she have left?"

Jimmy gulped. He really didn't want to answer. "Gee, I, uh…really don't know…"

"If you still want your job, you'd better tell me."

"Wait, you'd fire me just because I didn't tell you how many vacation days Lois has left?" This was ridiculous. In that moment, Jimmy could feel a spine in him growing. "No. I'm not going to tell you." he said firmly and a bit loudly. They were starting to get the attention of some of the people there.

"Jimmy, just tell me and you will still have your job."

Jimmy frowned. "No. I'm not going to tell you anything because I quit!" Jimmy said as he pulled out his press pass and tore it in front of Luthor. "Eat that!" Jimmy said as he tossed his shredded press pass to the ground. He brushed past Lex and stepped into an empty elevator. As the doors closed, Lex could see a look of defeat come over Jimmy. He was probably really regretting quitting right now.

Lex went into Perry's old office and turned on the computer. He quickly logged into the database and checked up on Lois' vacation days. Today was her last day of vacation.

A satisfied smiled spread across Lex's face. He may be done with Superman/Clark Kent, but he still had the whole family to toy with. His new project of destroying the next superhero, Batman, could wait a few more days.

* * *

Alfred pulled up to Wayne Manor and parked in front. All of the passengers stepped out. Lois was holding Caleb and Love was walking close to her mother. Martha followed them and they waited for Bruce or Alfred to open the door.

Bruce couldn't get the door unlocked until Alfred took over. He opened the door with ease and Bruce gave him a frustrated look before he walked inside. The group followed after him and Alfred closed the door once they were all inside.

"I keep telling Alfred we need to get that doorknob changed." Bruce said, trying to lighten the mood.

It didn't work. "Uh, I'll show you to your rooms." Bruce said as he started walking up the stairs.

One by one, he showed them to their rooms. Lois laid Caleb down on the bed in his room and Love stayed there with him. Martha and Lois were being led by Bruce down the hallway. Bruce had already showed them their rooms, but he was now going to show him where Evelyn was going to stay.

They walked in the room and it had a few machines beside the bed. It was a queen sized bed with a canopy over it. Right across from it was a large window. The sun was shining on the snow, but the snow showed no sign of melting.

Lois admired how beautiful it was. It was so much better than the hospital and she knew within a few days it would feel homey. "Bruce, I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

Bruce held up a hand to stop her. "I know Lois. You don't have to tell me anymore." he said as he put his hands in his pockets "So have you decided whether or not you want to run with the car accident?" Bruce knew it was still very tender to talk about it, but he needed an answer.

Lois looked over to Martha. On the way, they had discussed it. Martha believed it would be a good idea. Lois let out a sigh before she looked back to Bruce. "I think it would be good if you went through with it."

Bruce nodded his head. "I'll get right on it."

The sound of a helicopter landing could be heard outside. Lois and Martha looked out and there was a helicopter in Bruce's yard. Evelyn was here.

"I'll make sure we get Evelyn set up properly and please, if you need anything just tell me." Bruce said as he walked out to the hallway.

Lois nodded, but how could she ask for anything else? She was so used to being independent, but after Clark…died…everything changed. She was now feeling so dependent. Lois felt a chill go up her spine as she began thinking of herself as a dependent woman. She felt tears rising up, but then she heard a voice she had blocked out so many years ago.

'Soldiers don't cry, Lois.'

It was her dad's voice. He told her that the day of her mother's funeral. She closed her eyes and actually listened to that voice. She knew it was foolish, but what else could she do. She was completely and utterly lost without Clark Kent by her side.

* * *

Love looked at the time on her phone. It was three already on that Saturday afternoon. A week and a half away from Christmas. She got up and started walking around Caleb's room. She stopped in front of the large window and looked outside. She could feel the sun's rays hitting her and it felt good.

Her phone gave a small buzz in her hand and she looked at it. It was a message from Ella. She opened it and read what she had to say.

'Love, Josh's really worried about you. So am I. Please call me or him.'

Love closed the message. She could call one of them later, when she felt like talking to someone.

Outside the window, she could see men coming out of a helicopter with Evelyn in tow. They were bringing her in and were going to have her set up.

* * *

It was cold. He never felt cold. Something wasn't right. He groaned softly as he willed his eyes to open. He blinked a few times and began focusing on objects. Things were still a little blurry, but he could make out some things. He was surrounded by ice, everywhere he looked. His mind told him to sit up, but his body told him he couldn't. He tried moving and felt blinding pain shoot up through him.

"You must rest, my son. Your body has only begun to recover." came a loud, powerful voice.

But how could he rest? He needed to see his family."

"Your family is safe." came the voice. It was as if the voice knew what he was thinking. "They are being watched over."

Peace came over him. His family was safe. That was all he needed to know. He allowed his eyes to close. His kids were safe, his mom was safe, his friends were safe…Lois was safe.

* * *

A/N: So it seems like some people thought that I had ended this story with that last chapter...it isn't over! Sorry about that :P Here's the next chapter. Read it and review it. I like hearing what you people think about the story. :D And I promise, things will start getting better...soon.


	22. Forward

Forward

Lois watched quietly in the corner of the room as Alfred began hooking Evelyn up to the machines. Bruce had gone to take care of the story for Clark's death and Martha went to lay down.

Alfred stepped away from the bed and seemed to be finished. His eyes wandered over all the machines, making sure they were all functioning properly.

Lois took a few steps forward. "Alfred, could you tell me something in all honesty?"

Alfred turned and looked at Lois. "What is it?"

"Will Evelyn be able to wake up?" Lois asked as she tried to keep her voice from quivering.

Alfred sighed heavily as he looked from Evelyn to Lois. "Out of a hundred percent…there's only about a five percent chance that she will wake up."

Lois felt her legs going weak. She reached out for the wall to steady herself. She could feel her stomach clenching up. She was going to be sick. Lois ran across the room for the nearest trashcan and expelled the contents of her stomach. She didn't have much to loose, though. She only had half a bagel for breakfast.

She stood back up and could feel the room spinning around her. She was starting to feel lightheaded. Lois let out a soft groan as she plopped down in a chair and held her head.

Alfred put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you feeling all right?" Lois' face had paled considerably and her hands were shaking.

"I'm just feeling a little sick." Lois waved it off.

"Master Bruce told me of your pregnancy. Do you want me to make sure everything's all right?"

Lois looked up at Alfred. She had been feeling much weaker than she did when she was pregnant with Love or Caleb. There was something different about this pregnancy. She didn't know if that was going to be a good thing. "That would be nice." she said as she stood up.

Alfred began leading her to where he would do the small check-up. Lois put her hand on her stomach. She prayed that everything was all right. She couldn't let something happen to this baby. It would break her completely.

* * *

Love continued staring out the window blankly. She had watched the men bring Evelyn inside and she had also watched the helicopter leave. She wondered if they cared about what was happening to Evelyn. Did it make them hurt as much as they were?

A loud ringing interrupted her thoughts. She looked at her phone and saw Josh's name flashing on the screen. She didn't want to talk to him. She pushed the decline button and tried to relax. A few minutes later, her phone rang again. This time it was from Ella. Love rolled her eyes. Couldn't they just leave her alone? She pushed the decline button again. Frustrated, she started pacing around the room.

She started thinking about everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. Two words that she had hoped she would never hear in all her life came up in the same day, practically within minutes of each other. Coma and death. It wasn't fair. Why was something like this happening to them?

There was a soft knock on the door. Martha came in. "Love, there's someone on the phone for you."

Love couldn't believe it. She had to be sure. "Who is it?"

"Ella."

"I don't want to talk to her right now." Love said as she took a seat with her back turned to Martha.

"Sweetie, you need to talk with someone. You've hardly spoken all day. This isn't healthy." Martha knew what Love was doing. She was dealing with Clark's death the same way Clark had dealt with Jonathan's death. She was trying to distance herself from all relationships. "Trust me, you'll feel better after you talk to someone." Martha said as she handed Love her cell.

Love looked down at it and grabbed it. Martha smiled approvingly as she walked out. Love put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Love! We've been trying to reach you all day! Why wouldn't you answer any of our calls?" came Ella's worried voice.

"I just haven't really…" Love swallowed a lump forming in her throat. She couldn't break down. No, she wasn't going to.

"Love, if you dare say that you didn't want to talk to anyone, just go ahead and stop." It was Josh.

They must've been doing a thee-way call. "How did you end up with my nana's number?" Love asked in a tired voice.

"After you didn't pick up your cell, we tried your mom's cell. She didn't pick up so we called the Daily Planet. We got both of your parents desks, but they weren't there. So we tried your Uncle Jimmy's desk. They said he had just left so we asked for his home number. We called and your Aunt Chloe was there. She gave us your Nana's number." Ella explained in one breath.

"Oh," was all Love could say. They had really tried contacting her.

There was silence on the line. "Josh told me what happened last night." Ella said quietly, breaking the silence.

Love could feel tears rising up. "Yeah, what about it?" she said trying to brush it off.

"Love, we want you to know that we'll always be there. And If there's any kind of change in Evelyn, please let us know." Josh pleaded with her.

Love sighed. If there was going to be any chance in Love, it was probably going to be for the worse. She didn't really have high hopes right now when it came to Evelyn's health. Love took a seat and put her head in her hands. She felt like telling them everything, _everything_, including all about her heritage, her dad's secret identity, Lois' pregnancy, but most importantly, she wanted to talk to them about this guilt that she felt.

"Love, you still there?" Ella said, breaking the silence once again.

Love sniffled a little. "Yeah. Thanks guys. I'll call you later." Love said quietly.

"Can we come by later today?" Josh asked.

"We're not at the hospital anymore," Love started. "My mom is friends with Bruce Wayne and he had her transported to Wayne Manor."

"That's in Gotham though, isn't it?" Ella asked.

"Yeah." To be honest, Love would really like it if one of them were her with them. It'd be better if they both could come. "Why don't you talk to your parents and ask if you can stay a couple nights?" Love asked.

"Would Mr. Wayne be okay with it?" Josh asked. He wasn't too sure about spending the night in a millionaire's home.

"Bruce won't mind. I promise you."

"Okay. I'll ask my mom." Ella said. "What about you Josh? Are you going to join us?"

"Yeah, I'll ask my parents too."

"Thanks." Love said. She meant it. Maybe she didn't really want to talk with anyone, but just knowing that Ella and Josh were worried about her and wanted to make sure she was fine lifted spirits an inch.

"We'll call you later." Ella said as she hung up.

"Yeah, and if you need anything just call one of us." Josh said.

"I know." Love said. "I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Love looked at the phone in her hand. It was amazing what a simple phone call could do. She got up to give the phone back to Martha.

* * *

Lois walked into a room that Alfred led her into. She looked around and could see all kinds of medical equipment. She saw the sonogram machine where she had first seen Love developing in her. She smiled as she placed a hand on it.

"All right, you remember what to do, right?" Alfred asked as he started washing his hands.

"Yeah, I remember." Lois said as she laid down on the table. She looked up at the ceiling, waiting for Alfred to be done.

Alfred came by and shook a bottle with some bluish gel in it. "Let me see your stomach."

Lois lifted up her shirt enough to expose her stomach. Alfred squeezed the gel on and she let out a soft gasp. It was so cold. He turned on the sonogram machine and let it warm up. Once it was fully on, he grabbed the probe and started rubbing it around Lois' stomach. A fuzzy looking image appeared on the screen.

Alfred frowned and Lois didn't like that. "Is everything all right?" her voice was tight as she fought off fear.

"Everything seems to be all right. How have you been feeling?" Alfred asked as he continued looking around with the machine.

"I've been tired, more than I ever was when I was pregnant with Love or Caleb."

Alfred nodded. He continued trying to find the problem. "Well, I think I know what's wrong." Alfred said as he lifted the probe away from her stomach.

Lois could see a small smile and relaxed slightly. "What is it?"

"You're going to have twins."

Twins. A smile came over Lois' face, but it immediately fell. She was going to be raising twins by herself. _Twins_. Five kids, not including the pair that Clark and her had already started to adopt. _Seven_ kids. How in the world was she going to do it?!

"Are you feeling okay?" Alfred asked. He could see the pale complexion on her face.

Lois was pulled out of her thoughts by Alfred. "Twins…" she repeated, making sure that she understood.

Alfred couldn't imagine being in her shoes. It was just an impossible situation. "I know that people may be telling you this all the time now, but I'm truly sorry." Alfred said as he excused himself. He didn't know what to do or say to her. He thought it best that she should be alone until she sorted some of this out.

Lois didn't hear Alfred walking out or even closing the door. Instead she just stared at the frozen image on the monitor. Their twins. No, it wasn't _their_ anymore, it was just her. Her twins. Lois sat up and covered her face. She had no more tears to cry, but felt as if she could cry up a whole ocean.

Lois heard a loud screaming and she jumped off the table. It sounded like Caleb. She ran out of the room and continued running for Caleb's room.

* * *

Caleb woke up and looked around sleepily. He saw Love sitting at the window. Her head had fallen to her side and it seemed as if she had fallen asleep. He didn't see Lois anywhere.

Caleb got off the bed and grabbed the red blanket that was at the foot of the bed. He wrapped it around himself and smiled as a thought came to him. He must look just like his daddy with the red blanket around him.

As he thought of his late father, fresh tears came to his eyes and one by one, they started coming down. He missed his daddy. There was no way it was ever going to be normal again.

There was a TV in the room and Caleb walked over to it. He turned it on and sat right in front of the screen.

"…Metropolis mourns the loss of Superman as the mayor plans to…" Caleb didn't hear anything else the lady on TV said. They were showing a clip of Superman's last moments. He was fighting Doomsday. They were both bloodied, but neither was giving up. Superman grabbed Doomsday and the both shot up in the night air. There was no sign of them until they both came crashing down. Superman wasn't moving anymore.

Caleb was now sobbing as he watched the gruesome death of his dad. "No! Daddy!" he screamed.

Love was startled out of her sleep when Caleb screamed. She saw what he was watching and could feel her heart breaking a thousand times over. "Caleb, turn that off!" she yelled at him. Bile rose in her throat as the scene began playing over and over again.

Caleb wasn't listening to Love. Instead, he stood up and with a loud scream, his tiny fist went straight through the TV. Sparks flew from the screen and you could hear it popping.

The door came in and both Lois and Martha came in.

"Caleb!" Lois exclaimed as she saw Caleb pulling his fist out of the TV. She ran to him and picked him up, rubbing his back as he continued crying.

"Daddy's gone and he's never coming back!" Caleb choked out.

Lois closed her eyes at his words. It was the truth, but it cut through her like a jagged blade, each moment more excruciating than the first. "Shh, it's going to be okay…" Lois mumbled as she gently rocked him.

Love stopped in her tracks as Caleb said those words. He wouldn't have needed to say them if it weren't for her. Clark would still be here.

Martha was watching Love and she saw something she had seen in Clark so many times before. Guilt.

"Love, why don't we leave your mom and Caleb alone for a few moments." Martha said. She was going to have to talk with Love about this. She didn't want things to get any worse.

Love looked at Martha then to Lois. Lois nodded her head in approval as she continued holding Caleb. His sobs had quieted down into sniffles and hiccups. Love walked out of the room with Martha. Not once did she pick up her head. She didn't know where they were going as they walked through the halls, but Martha must've known. She stopped at a closed door and opened it.

Martha walked in without hesitation, but Love lingered at the doorway. It was Evelyn's room. She could see Evelyn laying on the bed, machines surrounding her. The oxygen mask on her face that provided the air she needed. The soft rise and fall of her chest as she breathed slowly in her unconsciousness. Love didn't want to be in here. She didn't want to see any reminders of her mistake.

"Love, are you going to come in?" Martha asked from the seat she had taken.

Love took a small step back. "No, I don't really feel like it…"

"Come on, Love. I want to talk to you about something." Martha said as she patted an empty space next to her.

Love cast an uneasy glance to Evelyn before looking back to Martha. "I can't." she said with tears in her eyes. Her eyes wandered to the ground as she walked away.

Martha sighed heavily as she took a seat. Already Love was trying to distance herself. It wasn't healthy and it needed to be corrected.

* * *

Bruce looked out the window where the snow still laid. It was around ten or eleven at night. Today had been a long day. If it had been long for him, he could only imagine how long it must've been for Lois, the kids, and Martha.

Bruce poked his head in Evelyn's room and saw the whole family in there. They were all asleep except for Lois. She was staring at the screen of her phone.

"Lois?" Bruce called out. He didn't want to come in without saying anything.

Lois looked at him. "Hey Bruce." she didn't move from her position.

Bruce came in and took a seat next to her. He looked at what Lois was staring at. It was a picture of her and Clark. They were in the Daily Planet, the elevator it seemed. They both had huge smiles on their faces.

Lois sighed as she flipped the phone shut. "That was Clark's first day there. I took it a few months ago." she said as bit sadly. "It's the last picture we have of him."

"Lois, I'm sure there had to be some more pictures of him laying around somewhere. Maybe you could ask Jimmy. Wouldn't he take random pictures at the Planet?"

"Clark always knew when Jimmy was taking pictures. He avoided cameras like the plague." Lois sat back in the chair. "Did you need something?"

Bruce could hear in her voice how tired she was. "I came up here to tell you that I sent the story out. Clark Kent officially died in a car accident."

Lois closed her eyes and a single tear seeped out. It just wasn't fair. None of this was.

Bruce placed as hand on her shoulder. "Lois, I'm really sorry."

Lois shook herself mentally. She needed to start getting a grip. Life went on after Clark Kent and Superman. "Thanks Bruce."

"We can have the funeral service in three days." "That's fine." Lois shuddered. They won't have a body to bury. Instead, his body will stay frozen in his Fortress. "I've got some things to take care of at the Planet-"

"Lois, you aren't really going to go into work already?"

"No…I just have some things to pick up." Lois looked at Bruce. "I'm going to be leaving early. I don't want Caleb or Love to know where I'm going. After the Planet, I'm going to stop by the farm. Ask Ben if he can take care of it while we're out and then I'll grab some things and head back."

Bruce sighed. This was Lois' way of handling things. She had to be active or else she would completely break. "Do you need someone to go with you?"

Lois shook her head. She needed to get back her independence. She didn't care if she might be acting prideful. She needed to do this. Lois had to start moving forward.

Bruce nodded his head in understanding. "Is there anything you need to tell me?" he asked before he left. He knew that once he left, he wasn't going to be coming back in for a while. Batman still had to patrol the city.

Lois looked up at Bruce with tears in her eyes. "I'm going to have twins." her voice was soft and shaky.

Bruce could literally feel her pain. He pulled her into a hug and Lois cried into his chest.

* * *

Love opened her eyes slowly. It was morning and the sun was shining brightly through the window. She looked around and only she, Caleb, and Evelyn were still in the room. Lois and Martha had left sometime earlier.

Love stretched out as she walked out into the hallway. Her stomach growled loudly. She realized that yesterday she hadn't eaten anything. She made her way down to the kitchen to find something to eat. The kitchen looked like the kitchen of a five-star restaurant. It was huge and extravagant. Love started feeling silly as she realized she had been planning to make a bowl of cereal.

There were footsteps behind her. She turned around to see who it was. It was Bruce and he was carrying in an empty bowl with a spoon. Love relaxed as she realized that he had just gotten through eating cereal.

"Good morning, Love." Bruce greeted as he put the bowl in the sink.

Love didn't even make an attempt at smiling. "My mom and nana?" she asked, wanting to keep her words to a minimum.

"Your mom went out to run some errands and your nana's out walking around. She couldn't stay inside much longer."

Love frowned as Bruce explained where Lois was. Why didn't she ask someone else to do the errands for her?

Bruce knew what Love must've been thinking when she heard about Lois going to run errands. "Your mom needs to have something to do or she'll go crazy. That's just the way she's always been. These errands will just help to keep her mind off of…" Bruce didn't finish. There were so many things that she needed to get her mind off of. Clark, Evelyn, the pregnancy, the adoption.

Love knew what Bruce was talking about. She didn't want to say anything else on that matter. "Where's the cereal?"

Bruce walked over to a shelf and pulled down a box. "I only have corn flakes."

Corn flakes were fine with Love. She poured it in a bowl and grabbed the milk from the refrigerator. As she started making the simple meal, she wondered why Bruce was still in the kitchen with her. There was something on his mind and Love didn't know if she was going to like what he had to say. She wasn't going to ask him. She was going to let him tell her.

Bruce knew that Love needed to know about Clark's 'official' death. He sighed as he tried figuring out how to tell her this. "You know that the world could never know that Clark Kent was Superman."

Love stared up at him. Why was he bringing this up? She didn't want to think about it at all if she could help it.

"I talked with Lois and we agreed that we needed to find a way to have Clark…die." Bruce half expected her to say something but she didn't. He continued. "Last night while he was driving to Coast City to visit a friend, he lost control of the car and it fell off a cliff. The car has been totaled and his body hasn't been recovered."

It wasn't what happened. It wasn't fair. They made him die a normal death. Tragic, but normal. Love needed to think this through. "I'm going out…" she grumbled as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Love, don't leave." Bruce called out after her. He knew she was still going to leave, no matter what he said.

Love ignored him and continued walking up the stairs. She went back into Evelyn's room and grabbed her phone. She walked back to the door, ready to go run around.

"Love?"

Love looked behind her and saw Caleb. He was just barely waking up. Her demeanor softened some. "Hey Caleb."

Caleb looked around. "Where's Mommy and Nana?"

"Nana's outside walking and Mommy went out."

Caleb nodded. "Mommy's coming back, right?"

Love hated this whole situation. "Yeah."

"Are you going to go somewhere?"

Love sighed deeply. "I was going to go outside and run."

Caleb frowned. "You're leaving?"

Love walked towards him and gave him a big hug. "But I'm going to come back."

"Promise?" he asked, making his eyes big and watery. He looked so innocent.

Love gave a faint smile. "Promise." she started walking out of the room but stopped to look at Evelyn. She had no idea if she would ever wake up. She put her phone in her pocket and took off in a blur. She didn't know where she was going and it didn't matter. Running always cleared her mind.

* * *

Lois hung up her phone for the seventh time during the car ride to the Planet. People had been calling her to give her condolences about Clark's death.

Lois pulled into the parking garage and went into the elevator. She pushed the button for the top floor and the elevator started its climb up. People would come on and off, carrying on with their business, paying no attention to Lois. She was finally alone on the elevator for the last three floors.

The doors opened once she was on the top floor and she walked in. As she did, people would stop and give her pitying glances. She ignored them all as she continued to her desk.

"Lois!"

Lois turned around and saw Steve coming towards her. "Steve, what's up?"

"I didn't think that you were going to come in, what with Clark and…um, I'm really sorry." Steve said in his most sincere voice.

Lois closed her eyes as she forced the thought out. "Thanks Steve."

"So why are you here?"

"I just needed to get some things." Lois said as she started opening the drawers to her desk. She stopped as she noticed something missing. Jimmy hadn't come up to her yet. "Where's Jimmy?" she asked Steve as she looked around.

"He quit yesterday." Steve smiled. "He tore his press pass in front of Lex and stormed off. I never thought he had it in him. He finally grew a backbone."

A wry smile came on Lois' face. She was proud of Jimmy. She continued digging through her desk.

"Lois Kent. Or is back to Lois Lane, now?"

Lois froze when she heard her name spoken. The voice was all too familiar. She stood and faced him. "What do you want Luthor?"

Seve could see the growing tension and she backed away slowly.

"Did you come here to start working again?" Lex asked with a grin.

Lois narrowed her eyes. "My husband died last night and my daughter is ill. I am not going back to work until I get things situated."

"Lois, we both know that your husband didn't die last night. It was Saturday." Lex said in a whisper.

Lois had to fight against her nature to reach up and slap him. "I know you're behind this. I'll expose you to everyone and then you'll have to own up to everything that you've done."

"You won't find anything. It's all destroyed."

Lois balled up her fists at her side.

"Well, if you didn't come here to work then I'm going to have to fire you." Lex said coolly

Lois paused. He was going to fire her? Could he do that? She loved this job. She needed it! Reporting was the only thing she was good at! "No, I refuse to be fired by you! I quit!" Lois spat out. She walked away from Lex and grabbed two boxes. She went back to her desk and began clearing it out completely.

"While you're at it. Do you think you could clean out Clark's desk. I don't think he's going to have a chance to do that himself."

That was it for Lois. She put down the boxes that had already started piling up with things and ran to Lex. She tackled him to the ground and held his puny throat in her hands. "Don't you _ever_ say something like that again!"

Steve stepped into the situation and pulled Lois away from Lex

Lois struggled against Steve as Lex stood up, brushing off his shoulders.

"Tsk, tsk, Ms. Lane. That was a very bad move." Lex said before he started walking back to his office.

Steve finally let go of Lois once Lex was locked away in his office. She looked at Steve only for a moment before looking down. "Thanks." she mumbled.

Steve put a hand on her arm. "We've all been wanting to do that. None of us had the guts though."

Lois gave a weak smile before she started packing up both hers and Clark's desks. She stopped for a moment and looked at Clark's desk. She hadn't moved anything yet. She was afraid to.

"Do you want me to do it?" Steve asked in a soft voice.

Lois closed her eyes and fought back tears. She didn't want anyone to do it. It was as if they were killing him all over again. But she couldn't pack away his desk. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't. She nodded her head. "That'd be nice."

She grabbed the box filled with her stuff and went down the elevator back to the garage. She put the box in the trunk and came back up. By the time she was back on the top floor, Steve had packed away all of Clark's stuff neatly into one box. He lifted it up and handed it to her. Lois took it from him . "Thanks Steve."

Steve nodded. "If you need anything, just call." Steve gave her a small smile.

Lois nodded her appreciation and went into the elevator and started going back down. She was alone for most of the ride and was grateful for that. She came out of the elevator and into the garage. She put the box of Clark's stuff in the trunk and got in her car. When she got back to Wayne Manor, she was going to have to take the boxes down. She didn't know if she could go through them just yet.

* * *

Lois was driving past row after row of nothing but corn. She smiled at the memory of when she had first met Clark. He was hot then and he was still hot now…She frowned. No, it wasn't _now_ anymore. It was supposed to be past tense.

Her phone began ringing and Lois answered it. "Lois Kent." Lois opted to use that last name. It felt right.

"Mrs. Kent, this is Keith from the international adoption agency. I understand that you've just gone through the death of your husband, Mr. Kent."

Lois inhaled sharply at being reminded of the 'car crash.' "Um, yeah…"

"We were just calling to confirm whether or not you still wanted to continue with the process of adopting Katrina and Esmeralda."

Lois counted how many kids she would have. Seven kids to raise on her own. Seven was a big number compared to one. Five wasn't as big though and that's how many kids she would have if she didn't continue with the adoption. But how could she _not_ adopt them? Clark had shown her a picture of them and they were the cutest girls. But the thought of having to raise so many kids by herself scared her. What if she messed up? What if one of them became a delinquent, much worse a tyrant considering four of them were half-kryptonian.

"Mrs. Kent, are you still there?"

Lois cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm still here."

"You don't have to tell me right now, but I need to know by the end of the day. There's another family interested in adopting these two children."

Lois paused. She didn't like the idea of Evelyn's sisters being raised by someone else. In that moment, Lois knew what she needed to do. "Uh, actually Keith, I would love to continue with the adoption."

Keith was a bit surprised at her answer. "And you're sure about this Mrs. Kent?"

Lois smiled. "I'm positive."

Lois heard papers rustling on the other line. "Well then, we should have the process completed by the end of February. You would have to make a trip to visit them sometime in January."

Lois didn't want to leave her kids behind when she made that trip. But would she even be able to afford at least _one_ plane ticket? She had just lost her job. "Would there be anything else?"

"A few more papers would have to be signed, but that's about it. Thank you Mrs. Kent."

Lois hung up the phone. Katrina and Esmeralda were going to be here soon. Two months. Where were they going to sleep? There was hardly no room in the house and considering she was pregnant with twins, where were these twins going to sleep too?

What if she moved in with Bruce? She could sell the farm…but that was where Clark grew up. She'd be killing another memory of him. This was too much for her to think about right now. She turned her radio on and put on some Whitesnake. She turned the volume to full blast, letting the music play over her running thoughts.

* * *

The white light continued bathing over him. It felt so good. It was slowly starting to feel warm again. He didn't know how long he had been there, but it didn't matter to him. A thought occurred to him. 'Am I dead?' If he was, then Lois was left to raise the kids alone. Sure, she would have help from everyone they knew, but it wasn't going to be the same.

He tried sitting up, but couldn't. His body felt numb.

"Kal-el, you must not move. For your body to recover, you need much rest."

"But my family…" he moaned out as he struggled to sit up again. This time he was able to pull his body up.

"They will be fine."

He looked around. It looked like he was in the Fortress, but he wasn't completely sure. "Am I dead?"

"You were, but not anymore. Your body suffered a great deal of trauma and right now is slowly beginning to heal itself."

He let his body lie down again. He wasn't dead. That was enough for right now. His eyes closed and he returned to the floating feeling he got every time he closed his eyes.

* * *

Love tossed the phone back and forth in her hands. She was sitting on a mountain looking out at the Grand Canyon. It was so beautiful out here and it was quiet. She was able to think clearly.

Clark was now officially dead to the world. She couldn't figure out how that made her feel. She felt as if she had lost him all over again. First as Superman, now as Clark Kent. It hurt too much.

She looked at her phone. Surprisingly, she had a good signal. She dialed a number and waited a few rings for a response.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ella, it's Love."

"Love! How are you? How's Evelyn?"

"I'm doing…okay." Love said flatly.

"Is everything all right?"

Love closed her eyes as she considered her next words carefully. "Ella, can you keep a secret?"

"Sure Love. Is everything all right?"

Love didn't want to tell her over the phone. "My phone's starting to get a really bad signal. Can I call you back in a minute?"

"Yeah."

Love hung up the phone and stood up. She had no intention of calling Ella again. She ran as fast as she could and stopped when she was in front of Ella's house. She rang the doorbell and waited a few seconds.

"Love! It's good to see you." Mrs. James, Ella's mom, said. "How's Evelyn?" she asked in a soft tone.

"I don't really know." Love replied honestly. "Is Ella here?"

"Yes, she's in her room. You can come in and go see her." Mrs. James said as she stepped aside and let Love in.

Love smiled her gratitude and walked in. She knew where Ella's room was. She stopped at the door and knocked.

Ella answered it after a few seconds. Her face was puzzled when she saw who it was. "Love? I thought you were in Gotham?"

"Can I talk with you?" Love asked.

"Sure, come on in."

"Outside?"

Ella looked at her as if she were crazy. "Love, it's freezing outside…" Ella stopped when she saw the pleading look on Love's face. "Let me get my jacket on."

Love waited a few moments as Ella put on a heavy coat. She walked out of her room. "Mom, we're going outside for a walk. We'll be back."

"Please don't be long. It's freezing outside!"

Ella gave Love a pointed look. "I know."

They both walked out and started walking down the street. Pretty soon, they were walking around on a deserted road. "All right, Love. What's going on?"

Love let out a deep breath. She could see her breath and wondered how that happened. She remembered learning why sometime in science class, but right now it didn't matter. "You have to swear that you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

"Love, you make it sound as if you've got this huge family secret that you're about to spill." Ella said, trying to lighten the mood.

It only seemed to make it worse. "Ella, my dad died."

Ella stopped walking. "Oh my gosh…Love, I'm so sorry!" she said as she gave Love a hug. "When?"

"Saturday night."

"What happened?" Ella asked as they started walking again.

"He was fighting Doomsday and Doomsday killed him."

Ella frowned. "He was fighting Doomsday? The only person that I saw fighting Doomsday was Superman."

Love looked at her, willing her to see what she was trying to say.

Ella stopped again. "Wait, are you trying to say that you're dad is…"

"Superman. Clark Kent was Superman and Superman was Clark Kent."

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this super long chapter. I'm going to be gone for about two and a half weeks. We're going to Mexico on a mission trip again. :D I'm actually starting to feel bad that a lot of you have been feeling sad while reading this. Don't worry! It'll be better before it's over. Leave reviews for me!


	23. Trials

Trials

Ella stopped. "What?"

Love closed her eyes as she felt the tears building up. She didn't want to cry, but it seemed like she wasn't going to be able to control it. "I really needed to tell someone, but I…" Love finally let a few of the tears come down.

Ella seemed to ignore her shock as she went to her friend and gave her a tight hug. It didn't matter right now that Love was the daughter of Superman. She lost her dad and needed a shoulder to cry on.

* * *

Lois walked up the steps of Wayne Manor. She could hear the snow crunching under her feet as she walked. She opened the door and came in. The hallway was brightly lit from the sunlight coming in from the window at the top of the stairs. Other than that, the rest of the mansion was dark. Lois sighed as she longed for the brightness and warm comfort of the farm house, especially the loft.

"Mommy?"

Lois looked up and saw Caleb poking his head from the hallway at the top of the stairs. She forced a smile. "Hey there guy." she started climbing up the steps. When she reached him, she picked him up and placed him on her hip.

"Where did you go?"

"I went out to go run some errands." Lois said as she walked down the hallway. She was heading to Evelyn's room.

"Mommy, Love hasn't come back yet and she promised that she was coming back." Caleb said with a pout on his face.

Lois stopped at Evelyn's door. "Love isn't here?"

Caleb shook his head. "No. She said that she was going to go run." Caleb paused and looked right into her eyes. "I want her to come back."

Lois pushed the door open and set Caleb down. "I want you to stay here and do not leave this room."

"But-"

"No. Do not leave this room. I'll be right back."

"But I don't want you to leave!" Caleb pleaded.

Lois bent down to his eye-level. "Caleb, I am going to come back. I'm never going to leave you forever."

Caleb looked down as his eyes filled with tears. "That's what Daddy said."

Lois pulled him into a hug as he started crying. What else could she do? There was nothing that she could say to make this better.

Caleb pulled away and wiped his eyes. He tried his best to give Lois a smile.

"You feeling okay?"

Caleb nodded his head as he looked down.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll be back and I'll bring Love with me."

Caleb smiled as he let Lois go.

Lois stood up and wiped at her watery eyes. "I'll see you later." she said as she walked out the door.

Caleb nodded as he watched her leave. He knew that she was coming back.

Lois closed the door. After what had just happened, she didn't really want to go, but she had to make sure Love was all right. She walked down the stairs and as she was, she dialed Love's cell. Wherever she was, she was going to be in trouble.

* * *

Love didn't know how long she had been crying. She knew that they eventually sat down on the ground. Ella continuously rubbed her back, not knowing what else to do. Never before had she seen Love this distraught.

Love forced herself to stop crying. She had enough of crying. She sat up straight and rubbed her nose with her sleeve. She looked at Ella and gave her a half-smile. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to dump this all on you."

"Love, you know that you can tell me anything and this whole thing about…your dad…I swear, I will never tell anyone as long as I live."

Love smiled. "Thanks Ella."

There was a vibration in Love's pocket. She pulled out her phone and looked at the id. It was her mom. Love fought with the idea of not answering the phone. She was probably worried sick right now. She answered it as she stood back up. "Hello?"

"Love Martha Kent! What in the world were you thinking when you left?!" Lois yelled over the phone.

Love began to slowly walk away from Ella. She knew that Ella could hear what Lois was yelling. "I had to go out." she answered in a small voice.

"Love, do you have any idea how worried I was? I come home and Caleb's so upset because he thinks that you're not coming back."

"But I told him-"

"Stop. I want you to let me finish. Love, if you wanted to go somewhere, then you needed to tell me."

"Well you weren't there. Who else could I have told?" Love was starting to get upset.

"Why didn't you talk with Bruce?"

"Bruce? Are you serious?! The guy dresses up like a…" Love stopped and looked over to Ella. She may have told her that Clark was Superman, but there were still some things she didn't know about. "I didn't want to talk with Bruce at the time." Love said as she held back her anger. She was still upset about the funeral business.

"Why not? What could he have done?"

"Mom, I don't want to talk about it right now." Love said as she put her hand to her head.

"Love, what is going on?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it." Love sighed as she could hear Lois doing the exact same thing on the other line. "I'm on my way back." she said as she ended the call before Lois could say anything else.

Love took a deep breath as she walked back to Ella. "I've got to go back to Gotham." she said with a frown.

Ella nodded. "Do you need a ride back?"

"No, I'll just run."

"But you…right, _you_ can."

Love gave her a small smile. "I'll call you later." Love said as she took off running back to Gotham.

* * *

Love returned to Wayne Manor before the sun could set over Gotham. She looked up at the huge doors and took a deep breath as she walked in.

Lois was sitting on the stairs with her head in her hands. It looked like she was asleep.

Love figured that if she were quiet enough, she wouldn't hear her going up the stairs. She started going up slowly and carefully, making sure not to steps on any creaks.

"Love! You're back!" Caleb exclaimed as he ran towards her.

Love grimaced as Caleb hugged her legs. She could already feel Lois' hard stare.

"Caleb, let me talk with Lovely for a minute." Lois said as she stood up.

Caleb nodded his head, understanding that Love was about to get into trouble.

Love faced Lois and could tell this was going to be bad.

"Love, do you know how much unnecessary stress you just caused me?" Lois started out in a normal tone.

Love just looked down.

"Why did you go out? You were supposed to stay and watch Caleb. What if he went somewhere while you were gone?" Lois kept her tone calm.

Love closed her eyes as she remembered what happened last time she had to watch Caleb. _This was all her fault_.

Lois noticed Love's stance. It was the way Clark would look when he was blaming himself for something. "What's wrong Love?" Lois asked her gently.

Love looked in her eyes. She couldn't lie to her while looking her in the eyes. She looked up at her eyebrows. "Nothing."

Lois frowned. "Go upstairs and stay with Caleb. I've got some things I need to talk about with Bruce."

Love nodded. She knew what they were going to talk about. Funeral preparations.

* * *

Lois came back up the stairs. It seemed like Bruce had already taken care of everything for the funeral. She opened the door and Caleb was asleep in Love's lap. Love was watching Evelyn breath in and out as she gently rubbed Caleb's back.

Lois walked towards them and gave Love a small kiss on her head. "I know it hurts." she said softly.

Love clenched her jaw as she looked up at Lois with a look of anger on her face. "It doesn't hurt as much as you having a fake funeral for Dad."

Lois groaned. That was probably why she ran out like that. Lois looked at the window. It was night and Love should've already been asleep. None of them had been getting the proper sleep. "Love, we had to do something. We needed to be able to explain what happened to Clark without revealing his secret."

"I know but it's just that…" Love couldn't even put her thoughts into words.

"He deserves so much better." Lois finished for her.

Love looked up at Lois. Her previously dry eyes were beginning to get a little moisture in them.

Lois sat on the couch arm. "Your dad was always saving people. Even before you and Evelyn were born. I think he actually started saving people back when he was in middle school." Lois said with a trace of a smile. "But one thing he never asked for was recognition. Before he was Superman, he was known only as the Red-Blue Blur. He avoided the press like it was the plague. And when he became Superman, he told me that he didn't want to get involved with the press. He was looking to save humanity, not be exalted by humanity."

Love looked away as her hands pleaded with her to let her hug _something_. "But it's still so hard." she said in a whisper.

Lois leaned over and gave her a hug. Love didn't cry, but she felt as if she could. This funeral was going to happen no matter what. Lois was right, though. Clark never wanted recognition. He just wanted to be a symbol of hope. And he was that symbol of hope to the world _and_ his family.

* * *

The days began blurring together. They would receive condolence calls from so many people, but only their closest friends and relatives actually came by. Love and Caleb stayed in Evelyn's room while Lois and Martha would talk with the visitors. Josh and Ella would call often. Love would mainly talk with Ella though. She was a bit upset to find out that neither could spend the night. Josh, it seemed, was going to be able visit around Christmas week for a day.

Alfred would do daily check-ups on Evelyn, but there was nothing that would change. She was still in her coma state.

Tuesday night finally rolled around. The night of the funeral. Love and Caleb were in Evelyn's room, as usual, getting ready. Love looked down at Caleb who was sitting on the floor. He looked cute in his little tux. A strand of hair was falling over his eyes. It was exactly the way Superman would have his hair.

"Love, do we have to go downstairs?" Caleb asked. They had explained to Caleb what they were going to do about the funeral and the story of Clark's death. He didn't like it either, but he had no choice but to go along.

"Yes. If we don't, then we won't get any supper."

None of them had been eating well and at the word supper, both of their stomachs growled. Caleb stood up with a sigh as he looked up at Love. She was wearing a simple black skirt and a black blouse. "Why do we have to wear black?" "Because it's a funeral." Love answered as she put on a simple necklace.

Caleb frowned. "It's Daddy's funeral."

Love put her hands at her side. She promised herself she wasn't going to cry. Seemed like she was going to have to break that promise though.

Caleb looked up at Love and started speaking again. "His favorite colors were red, yellow, and blue. Not black." he said with conviction in his voice.

Love considered Caleb's words. Those colors were so bright for such a sad event. But they would do it in honor of their dad, the greatest hero that ever lived. Love took off her necklace and looked at Caleb. "I'll be right back. Don't tell Mom that I left."

Caleb frowned. "Where are you going?"

Love gave him a small smile. "You'll see." she went out in a blur of black and left a flustered Caleb behind.

He felt like crying again. Love had just left and didn't say where she was going. He didn't like that one bit.

Just as the first tear was about to fall, Love came back in holding a small paper bag. "What do you got?" he asked as he tried looking in the bag.

Love pulled out three necklaces with a medium sized Superman 'S' symbol. "Here, one for you, one for me, and one for Evelyn."

Caleb took the one Love handed him and slipped it on with pride. He beamed as he wore it proudly. Love put hers on and she walked to Evelyn. She carefully lifted her head and put the necklace on her. Now they could really honor their dad.

Caleb reached up and grabbed Love's hand as they started going downstairs where everyone was gathered.

Lois saw them coming from where she was standing. She excused herself from the person she was talking to and walked towards Love and Caleb. "What took you guys so long?" she asked as she smoothed down Caleb's hair.

"I went to go get something important." Love said with a hint of a smile.

Lois looked at them suspiciously, but when she saw the necklace they both had on, she smiled. She pulled them both into a hug and kissed the top of their heads. "I love you guys so much and your dad loved you guys too. You, Evelyn, and Caleb were the world to him."

Love closed her eyes and pushed down tears. "We know, Mom."

Lois walked away from them with a final squeeze.

Caleb grabbed Love's hand again as they stood there, not knowing what to do.

"Hey, guys." Bart Allen came up to him.

Love knew that he was the Flash, but Caleb didn't know about him. "Hey Bart."

He looked down at their necklaces and smiled. "Nice necklaces." he looked back up at them. "I'm really sorry about your dad. He was a really great guy."

Love gave him a half-smile. "Thanks."

Bart nodded as he walked away.

Before long, people started coming up to them. Some they had known for a while, and others they had barely met. More than half of them commented on their necklaces, knowing the true reason why they were wearing them.

Love felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Bruce. The smile she had tried forcing on her face finally fell off. "Hey Bruce."

Bruce gave both of them a side hug. "How are you two?"

"Hungry." Caleb complained.

Bruce smiled. "I think Alfred could give you something to eat."

Caleb smiled back and took off to the kitchen.

Bruce looked at the necklace Love wore. "I'm sure he'd be proud."

Love looked down at it. "I think he said it was his family's crest."

Bruce nodded as he recalled Clark mentioning something like that. "Well, you do have the House of El running in your blood." he said in a hushed voice. Bruce knew that not everyone attending the funeral knew of Clark's origins.

Love gave a soft smile. He was right. She had his blood in her. That made her feel somewhat glad.

"Ella called a few minutes ago. I told her what was going on right now and she said that she would call back later."

Love frowned. She would rather talk with Ella than to be stuck here. "Can I leave. I can't stand it here." Love told him earnestly.

Bruce nodded his head. "I know what you mean. Go ahead and call her back."

Love smiled. "Thank you." she said as she walked up the stairs.

Bruce nodded his head as he went out into the crowd.

* * *

Lois saw a head of white hair she didn't expect to see. She walked towards him and smiled when she saw she was right. "Chief, I didn't think that you would come." Love said with a smile.

Perry looked at her. "Well, Kent was an amazing man. He was he the one who sobered me up."

"He's helped a lot of people."

Perry nodded his head. "So have you heard anything about the Planet? How are things going? I asked Olsen, but he said that he quit. I can't imagine what kind of financial issues that's going to bring."

Lois looked down starting to feel ashamed. She knew how difficult this must be on the Sullivan-Olsen family. "I don't know Perry. I quit too." she looked back up, expecting to see him looking at her with disapproval.

Instead she found pride in the older man's eyes. "Good. I didn't want you working for Luthor anyways."

Lois gave him a small smile. "Now I'm stuck in unemployment land."

"Along with me and Olsen."

Lois sighed. Things were just getting really sad. "Guess that's it then."

"What?"

"I'm going to have to work for some rag newspaper." Lois said in defeat.

Perry gave her a small smile. "I wouldn't consider it rag if I happened to become the editor where you'd start reporting again.

Lois smiled back. If only things really were that simple. "I'll talk with you later Perry." There were still so many other guests she had to greet and thank for coming. She had no idea Clark knew so many people.

* * *

Everyone had gone home and now they were back in Evelyn's room. Martha had gone back to her home and now it was just Lois, Love, Caleb. Love nor Caleb had taken off their necklace and they made sure Alfred let Evelyn keep her necklace on too. Lois knew they were going to wear them for a while.

Nights were the hardest for Lois. That was when she and Clark would usually talk about everything that had happened. He'd share a funny experience that happened after he saved someone. She would tell him a stunt that Caleb tried. Other times, they would just make pure and simple love to each other. But her favorite moments were when they would lie in bed together saying nothing, but holding each other close. Nothing needed to be said or done. They would just hold each other.

"Lois,"

Lois looked up from her seat by Evelyn's bed. She saw a dark figure standing there at the doorway. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Was that really him? Was this whole thing just a horrible nightmare?

"I'm here Lois."

A smile spread over her face as she stood up and walked towards the door. "Clark," she let out breathlessly.

As quickly as the shadow appeared, it was gone. Lois paused in her walk. It was only a mirage. Nothing more. She closed her eyes. She was stupid to think that he would come back.

"No!! Daddy!!"

Lois was pulled out of her thoughts as Caleb started yelling frantically. Lois turned around and grabbed Caleb in her arms.

"Shh…it's only a dream." Lois said comfortingly as she rocked him.

"But Mommy, the boogie monster came back and he killed Daddy!" Caleb cried.

Lois held him close as she rocked him. "Daddy made sure that the boogie monster won't come back and hurt anyone else." she told him soothingly.

Caleb's sobs quieted down to hiccups within a few minutes. "I want my daddy." he mumbled into her chest.

Lois breathed out heavily. She wanted him back too. She looked over to Love who had awoken also. Love was watching them. Lois kept on seeing that same look of regret and shame on her face. Lois wondered what Love was blaming herself for.

* * *

It was late Wednesday afternoon. Caleb and Love were hanging out on the couch in Evelyn's room. They had brought a TV in there and were now watching a cartoon. It was actually a Christmas special.

The door opened and Lois poked her head in. "I'm going to go to the farm to pick up the mail and check up on things." she informed them. "Bruce is going to be leaving in a few minutes, but Alfred will still be here."

"Can I go with you?" Love asked.

"I want to go too!" Caleb declared as he hopped off the couch and ran to Lois. Caleb had started getting separation anxiety and now had to be with either Love or Lois at all times.

"Get your jackets on then." Lois said as she pulled out Caleb's coat and handed it to him.

* * *

The car ride to Smallville was a quiet one. Lois had put on some music and it was playing softly in the background. Love was staring out the window at the sunny sky. The snow that had fallen Saturday night was barely starting to melt. Meteorologists said that it was supposed to snow again on Monday and Tuesday. They were going to have a white Christmas.

Lois knew that Love had a reason for coming. She had something on her mind and she needed to talk about it. It didn't seem like Love was going to be the first one to talk though. Caleb was asleep in the back seat so it might encourage Love to open up some. "So you never told me where you went a few days ago."

Love looked away from the window to her hands in her lap. "I went out."

Lois held in a groan. "Love, you're going to have to tell me eventually."

"I went to the Grand Canyon."

Lois smiled at the thought. It must've been so amazing and beautiful. But there was something else. "Did you go somewhere besides the Grand Canyon?"

Love looked back out the window and didn't answer Lois' question. It seemed to Lois like she wasn't going to be able to get anything else out of her for a while.

* * *

They arrived at the farm and Caleb joyfully ran out of the car and headed inside the barn.

"Don't scare the horses Caleb!" Lois yelled as she walked inside the house. Love followed after her.

Lois sifted through the mail. There were a lot of cards from different people. Lois knew most of the people, but some of them she had barely met.

Love walked to the stairs and stopped at the top. She remembered being at the top of those stairs when she was six or seven. They had been reunited as a family. Now they were going to be separated for ever and it was all her fault. She climbed up the stairs and went into her room. She looked at both hers and Evelyn's beds. They were untouched.

Love went to Evelyn's bed and laid down. As soon as she did, she began to cry out her heart.

* * *

Lois tossed down all the bills that had been piling up. She had been looking in the help ads to find a job, but there was nothing that she could do. There was always teaching, but she didn't know if she could after 'Margaret Kiddance.' She was actually tempted to go into the first supermarket she saw and get a job there. She knew that Oliver or Bruce would readily offer her a new job, but she needed to do this on her own. If she didn't then she would never get back to living life.

She went out to the barn and saw Caleb already grooming the horses. He was so proud when he first showed Clark that he could groom them on his own. Lois smiled fondly at the memory. She helped Caleb take care of some of the animals before she headed back inside. She couldn't stay in the barn for too long. There were too many memories there.

She walked back inside the house and climbed up the stairs. The door to Love and Evelyn's room was closed, so she walked past it. She stopped at the closed door of her and Clark's room. She laid her hand on the wood and closed her eyes. Her free hand wandered to her flat stomach as she began rubbing it gently. How was she going to do it?

A sneeze could be heard from Love's room. Lois' head shot up as she walked to the room. She opened the door and saw Love on the ground gathering some papers that had fallen from the wind of her sneeze. Lois could see tear stains on her face. "What's wrong Lovely?"

Love didn't look up as she put the papers back on the desk. She didn't even answer her. She took a seat on her bed and stared blankly at the floor.

Lois took a seat next to her and began rubbing her back. She didn't say anything. Whatever Love had on her mind, it needed to come from her first.

Lois knew that they had been sitting in silence for more that ten minutes. She couldn't stand it anymore. She was about to get up, but Love took a deep breath. It sounded like she was about to tart talking. Lois waited a bit longer.

"Do you know if the city was going to do something for Superman?" Love asked after a few shaky breaths.

"I don't know. They're still trying to clean up from Doomsday."

Love cringed at the word. That's what had killed Clark, not a car crash. "We'll be the only ones who really know." she said softly.

"Know what Lovely?"

"What really killed Dad." Love said as she looked up at Lois. Tears filled her eyes. "We won't be able to share that with anyone." Love didn't add the fact that she had told Ella. "If someone happens to mention Superman, we'll just have to endure the conversation. Even if I want to cry. It's just Superman…why would I be crying over the untouchable alien?" the tears were now coming down her face.

"Oh Lovely," Lois hugged her daughter. "It doesn't matter who knows what. You'll always know that your dad was an amazing man."

"But we'll be the only ones who knew that!" she nearly yelled as she pulled away from Lois.

"Love, I want you to look at me." she said as she saw that Love was beginning to look away. "It does not matter who knows. What matter's is how we make him live on in our lives." Lois wasn't just telling this for Love. She was saying this for her also.

Love sighed as she looked down at her lap. "How can I let him live on in my life if I was the reason he died?" she mumbled, not intending for Lois to hear.

Lois heard it though. She didn't know how, but she did. "What are you talking about?"

Love looked up, surprised she caught what she said. "It's my fault." she said softly with tears in her eyes. "If I had been watching Caleb right, then he wouldn't have needed to go look for him."

"Love, you can't blame yourself. This isn't your fault."

"But I was supposed to watch him! I was supposed to take care of him and I didn't! That's why Dad's dead right now!"

"Love, stop. None of this is your fault. Even if you would've watched Caleb, he still would've ended up battling Doomsday."

"But I could've at least stalled it." Love said in a broken whisper.

Lois leaned over and gave her a tight hug. Love cried her heart out as Lois continuously repeated to her that it wasn't her fault.

The door opened and Caleb poked his head in. "Mommy?"

Love wiped her eyes as she let go of Lois. She felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her. Maybe this whole thing wasn't her fault.

"Hey there guy." Lois said as she patted the empty space beside her.

Caleb walked to the spot and took a seat next to her. He leaned against her and she began to run her fingers through his hair. He popped his head back up and looked at Love. "Are you okay?"

Love looked at Caleb. Lois was right. None of this was her fault. She couldn't have prevented any of it. She gave him a soft smile. "I'm fine." At least now she was.

* * *

They drove back to Wayne Manor and were now lounging in Evelyn's room. Lois was on her computer trying to figure out what to do about her unemployment and find something to legally incriminate Lex once and for all.

Love stood up, suddenly remembering something. "Mom, I'm going to go get something from the car okay?" Love said before she walked out the door.

"Grab a jacket." Lois said, not looking up from the screen.

Love groaned inwardly. She didn't need one, but Lois still insisted that she wore one. She put it on without argument though and walked downstairs and out the door. The car beeped as Love unlocked it. She went to the trunk, remembering that her iPod had slipped back there. When she did, she was a bit surprised at what she saw.

Two boxes filled with a bunch of stuff. One was labeled Lois and the other was Smallville. Love frowned. She didn't remember Lois taking anything from the farm except some mail.

Love put her iPod in one of the boxes as she grabbed them both and brought them back in.

"Mom, what's this stuff?" Love asked as she set it down on the ground.

Lois looked up from her computer and sighed. She really didn't want to go through that stuff right now. It was still too soon for her. "That's the stuff from mine and your dad's desk at the Planet."

"Why do you have them here in boxes?" Love asked, trying to keep the worry out of her voice.

Lois didn't answer as she stood up and pulled something out of the box labeled Smallville.

"Mom…why do you have this stuff?" Love asked again.

"Lovely, not right now, okay? We can talk about this later along with some other stuff." Lois told her. She had been meaning to tell them about her pregnancy and the adoption, she just didn't know when the right time would be.

Caleb got up from the couch and walked to the boxes. He started going through the boxes and pulled out a watch. It was old and worn out, but it still kept the right time. "Mommy, was this Daddy's watch?" Caleb held it up for her to see.

Lois took a seat on the ground and looked at it. She smiled at him. "Yeah. It was his favorite watch. It belonged to his dad. When his dad died, he passed it down to Clark."

Caleb looked up at Lois with a mixture of happiness and sadness. "Does that mean I get to wear it?" he asked innocently.

Lois ignored the tears that had begun their way to her eyes. "Yeah guy. You get to wear Daddy's watch." she said as she fastened it securely on his small wrist.

It was so loose on him, but Caleb was bursting with pride.

Love sat down on the ground with them. They all started going through everything, pulling stuff out and asking questions.

Love felt tears coming up as she would go from picture to picture. She never knew that Clark had kept so many pictures of them.

"Hey, who's this with Daddy and Evelyn?" Caleb asked as he pulled out a photo.

Lois grabbed it from him and looked at it. It was an old picture, wrinkled everywhere. It was taken when Evelyn had first been brought to the States as a young girl. It was when Clark was married to Lana. The person Caleb was asking about was none other than Lana. "That's your daddy's ex-wife." she said chillingly. She had brought so much pain to them. Lois could understand why Clark kept the picture. It was the first one he ever took of Evelyn, but she wished that he cut off Lana's face and burned it to ashes. If he did though, then he'd be cutting off Evelyn's face along with it.

Caleb frowned. Did that mean that Clark was married before Lois? He didn't want to know so he just left it alone.

Lois on the other hand was thinking very hard. What if Lana had something to do with what Lex had done. It wouldn't be a far-shot, but she _was _in prison. She was going to make sure to check on that.

* * *

Lois looked at the time on her computer. It was ten minutes until midnight. Tomorrow was going to be Sunday. Today had been the one week anniversary of Clark's death. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to. At that moment, she was in the dining room. She didn't want to keep the kids awake.

"May I come in?"

Lois looked up and saw Alfred standing there. "Alfred, sure, come on in." Lois said as she stood up to greet the older man.

Alfred took a seat and so did Lois. Alfred was looking rather tired and a bit concerned. Lois didn't like it. "Is everything all right?"

Alfred sighed as he looked Lois in her eyes. He didn't like delivering bad news looking down. "I've been running some tests on Evelyn, seeing how she's doing."

"And…?"

"All of the tests have come out negative. Evelyn's main organs are slowly beginning to shut down."

Lois felt dizzy. Her hand immediately went to her stomach. "How long does she have?" Lois was afraid of the answer.

Alfred looked down for a moment before looking up again. "I'm afraid she only has a week at most."

Lois felt the wave of tears coming up. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Make sure she's comfortable."

"No, there has to be something more." Lois' voice was dead-set. She wasn't going to sit back and watch someone she love die. It had happened to her too much already.

"I'm sorry Lois. There's absolutely nothing. I'm really sorry about this." he awkwardly walked out, leaving Lois to deal with this alone.

Lois sat there unmoving as she could hear Alfred's words being played over and over again. _A week at most…absolutely nothing…_It was too much. Lois placed her head on the table and cried alone. It seemed like she was going to have to get used to crying alone. Clark's arms weren't there to wrap around her anymore. No more of his comforting farm boy charm. Nothing…just emptiness.

* * *

A/N: Hello everyone, I know I should've been updating this, but I haven't. The next chapter will be up by next week. Expect it on Wednesday or Thursday. And this will be the last chapter that will be sad. :) Thank you all for the great reviews. They boost up my writing confidence! :D


	24. Awake

Awake

Clark stood up from the place where he had been lying for a few days. He could feel his body returning back to normal, but he still didn't feel all that well. He actually felt a bit cold. That told him how much of his powers he had back. He started to walk towards the back exit of the Fortress

"Where are you going my son? You have not fully recovered." Jor-el said before he could walk out the door.

"I need some warm sunlight." Clark answered him as he took a step outside.

* * *

The snow outside had completely disappeared, but there were clouds on the horizon. More snow was coming. Lois looked at the sun that had already risen. She had slept in the dining room that night. She hadn't meant to, but how could she go to Evelyn's room? It would only make her cry some more. That's why she was standing outside Evelyn's door and looking at the window from the hallway.

She knew the kids were awake. She could hear Love and Caleb talking quietly. Lois finally placed her hand on the knob and opened the door. She came in and looked at Evelyn. _A week_.

Love noticed the sad expression on Lois' face. "Mom, what is it?" she asked as she put her conversation with Caleb on hold.

Lois looked up at Love and closed the door. She made her way towards them and took a seat in between them on the couch.

"Mommy, why are you sad?" Caleb asked as he climbed on her lap.

Lois closed her eyes and swallowed. This was going to be hard to tell them. "Alfred gave me some news about Evelyn last night."

Love had a feeling it wasn't good news. "What did he say?"

"Is Evelyn going to wake up?" Caleb asked, his hazel eyes so big and round.

"Evelyn's not getting better. She's actually getting a lot worse."

"Worse? How bad is worse?" Love's voice was tight.

Lois closed her eyes. "He's giving Evelyn a week to live."

Love scooted back. This wasn't happening. Not now. Caleb was trying to understand what was happening. He furrowed his brows. "Does that mean Evelyn's going to…die?"

Lois nodded her head. "Probably before this week ends."

"But tomorrow's Christmas Eve." Caleb said as tears came to his eyes. "She has to see Christmas again!" he said in a sob

Lois swore under her breath. She had completely forgotten about Christmas. She had gotten them nothing and honestly couldn't afford it.

Caleb began sobbing into Lois' shoulder. Lois rubbed his back and rocked him gently. "Shh…it's going to be okay…" she kept repeating that silently to herself. It felt like such a lie though.

"I could've asked Santa to make Evelyn all better…but I asked for a new bike!" he sobbed.

Lois let a tear fall. Even if Santa existed, she doubted that he could make Evelyn better. She looked at Love. She was staring hopelessly at Evelyn.

Evelyn couldn't die. It would bring too much pain for them to handle.

* * *

It was Christmas Eve. Lois was sitting by Evelyn, holding her cold hand and rubbing it gently. Two people in less than one month. How could this happen? They hadn't told anyone what they found out about Evelyn. They were still trying to digest the fact themselves

Love was awake but Caleb had fallen asleep. They had the TV on a Christmas special. There was hardly any Christmas cheer in that place.

There was a knock on the door before it opened. Bruce poked his head in. "Hey."

Lois gave him a half-hearted smile. "Hey Bruce."

Bruce walked in and stood by Lois. "I, um, went and bought a tree. I didn't know if maybe you guys wanted to help me and Alfred decorate it."

Lois looked to the kids on the couch. "I'm not in the mood right now. I'm sure they'd want to though." Lois said as she pointed to them.

Bruce put a hand on her shoulder. "How are you?"

"I'm tired. I woke up with a headache and I threw up." Lois looked up at Bruce. "I'm worried about the babies. I've been stressing so much lately, I don't know if it's going to affect them." she told him honestly.

"I can get Alfred to check up on you again, make sure everything's all right."

Lois nodded her head. "Later though." Lois wanted to be with Evelyn as long as she could. There was no way she was going to leave her side.

Bruce nodded as he went and told Love and Caleb to help decorate. They nodded their heads and instead of jumping for joy, they dragged their feet out the door. This whole thing with Evelyn really put a damper on things.

* * *

Caleb looked at his watch. It was the one Clark would wear. He looked up to the tree that had been decorated, all that was missing was the star. Clark was the one that was supposed to put it up there.

"Who would like to put the star on top?" Bruce asked.

"That's supposed to be Daddy's job…" Caleb said softly.

Bruce frowned as he said that. "Would you like to put it up there?" Bruce asked him.

Caleb looked up at the tree. It was taller than most and had taken a while to decorate. He looked outside the window at the snow falling in the moonlight. It would've been a perfect Christmas if Clark and Evelyn could enjoy it with them. Caleb looked back to Bruce and nodded his head.

Bruce smiled and picked him up. He handed him the star and began climbing up the ladder. They reached the top step and Caleb reached up and placed the star on the very top. Caleb smiled as it lit up with all the other lights. Seeing the star light up made Caleb believe that something good was possible.

* * *

Love and Caleb came back in Evelyn's room. Lois looked at Caleb and Love who had taken their seats on the couch. Caleb had pulled out his Superman charm and was fingering it while Love was staring blankly out the window. The snow was starting to fall heavier.

Maybe this would be a good time to tell them, Lois thought. She walked away from Evelyn and put the chair in front of them. "There's a few things that I need to talk with you kids about."

Love's heart skipped a beat. More bad news.

Caleb frowned. He didn't like the news Lois had anymore.

Lois gave Caleb a small smile as she sat him on her lap. "I was going to tell you guys when your dad was by me, but…" the sentence died in her throat. She cleared it out and started again. "You three are going to have four new siblings." Lois was still including Evelyn. She wasn't dead yet.

Love's jaw dropped and Caleb's eyes nearly popped out. Love had known that Lois was pregnant, but not that she was having quadruplets. "You're having quadruplets?"

"No, just twins. When Evelyn ran away, she found out that she had younger twin sisters. Your dad told me about them and we started the adoption process. Even though he's gone, we're still going to adopt them."

"What are their names?" Caleb asked.

"Katrina and Esmeralda."

Caleb smiled. "I like those names."

Lois smiled back at him. "Why don't you two go back downstairs and see if there's any other decorating that you can help with."

Caleb got up and did what she said, but Love looked at her warily. "Are you doing all right?" she asked.

Lois sighed. "I'm doing as good as I can be." she answered honestly. "Go with your brother. I might be down in a minute."

Love gave her a slight grimace, but followed her instruction. Love closed the door behind her as she left Lois alone in the room.

Lois pulled the chair back beside Evelyn's bed. She put her head on the bed and began crying softly to herself. How was she going to do this?

* * *

Clark opened his eyes and was a bit surprised at where he was. He sat up and looked around. He was a few yards away from the fortress. Did he fall asleep outside? He squinted up at the bright sun. How long had it been? He stood up and walked back inside. As he walked inside, he could feel something inside of him. He wasn't cold anymore. He thought it was actually warm. A smile came to his face as he could only come up with one explanation for the warmth. His powers were back.

To be sure, he sped up to the main console. They really were back! "Father! I'm better!" he exclaimed in a joyful voice.

"Absorbing the yellow sun's rays for a day increased your recovery, Kal-el."

Clark frowned. He was out there for a whole day? It didn't matter though. Not right now. "Can I go back?"

Clark could practically hear the smile in Jor-el's voice. "Yes."

* * *

The lights were dim in Evelyn's room. There was hardly any kind of moon light coming in from the window. The clouds had begun covering the moon as the snow fell heavier.

"Lois…"

Lois' head shot up as she heard her name being called. It sounded so much like his voice. It couldn't have been though. It was ridiculous. Just another dream.

"Lois, I'm right here."

Lois looked to where she heard him. There was a shadow there. She stood up. "Clark?" she spoke softly.

"I'm here, Lois." he said as he stepped out of the shadows. He was dressed in a typical red-blue combo.

A smile spread over her face as she started walking towards him. This had to be for real. "Clark, your alive!" she exclaimed as she turned her walk into a sprint. Lois saw him clearly. He was waiting for her with open arms. She reached up to hug him, but all she felt was air.

Lois spun around looking for him, but the room was empty. It was only her, Evelyn, and the machines. There was no sign of Clark.

Lois felt her heart cry inside. She knew that it was impossible. He was gone. And she had already told herself she wasn't going to let herself get fooled by another vision, or mirage. This was ridiculous. Lois plopped back down and swallowed back her tears.

* * *

Clark landed on the grass that was quickly being covered by the falling snow. He had checked the farm and it was completely empty. He tried the hospital, but they weren't there either. Now he was at Wayne Manor.

He smiled as he saw the Christmas tree in the window brightly lit and decorated. He had promised himself that he wasn't going to miss another Christmas. Looked like he was going to be able to keep that promise a bit longer.

He saw Lois in a room resting her head on the bed. He smiled at the sight, but noticed how horrible she looked. Clark felt pain shoot through him. Jor-el may have been sure that they were taken care of physically, but he could only imagine how they were doing emotionally.

He flew up to a window and opened it. He stepped in and started walking down the hallway. There was nothing that could possibly keep him from Lois.

* * *

Lois was stupid. That was the only explanation. She let herself think she saw Clark, just because she couldn't handle the grief. It was true though. She couldn't handle none of this.

The door opened and there was a figure standing in the doorway. He was too tall to be Bruce or Alfred. Lois could've sworn it was Clark.

"Lois,"

Lois' heart skipped a beat. He spoke her name. But it wasn't real. It was just an illusion. She couldn't believe she was having another one though. It was pretty close to the first one. "You're not real." she said firmly, trying to convince herself.

He stepped forward, as if trying to disprove her. Why would she think he wasn't real. "Lois, I'm right here."

Lois stood up. "Oh yeah Clark! You're right there! You're not just some stupid figment of my imagination! Seems like I can't let you go so I start imagining you're alive!" she was now walking to him at a fast pace. She stopped right in front of him. "You are not real! If I touch you, you're going to disappear, so just leave me and my miserable self alone!"

"Lois, I…"

"No Clark! Just go away!"

Clark didn't know what to do. He reached out and grabbed her hand. He held it to his heart and she could feel his steady heart beat. He lifted it up to his mouth and kissed it. "I'm really here Lois."

Lois pulled her hand away and started backing away. Her eyes were wide. Clark was here. He was really here and he was _alive_! She threw her arms around him and this time he didn't disappear. "Clark! Oh my gosh! You're alive!!" Lois began covering his face with kisses.

Clark began chuckling as he lifted her up in his arms and twirled her around. Never again would he let something like this happen to them.

"You have no idea how much we've missed you!" Lois told him in between her kisses.

Clark moaned against her. "I'm so sorry Lois. I'll never leave you along like that again." he mumbled against her lips.

"Mommy, we're going to watch _It's a Wonderful Life_!" Caleb called out from the hallway.

Lois heard him, but she didn't let go of Clark for one moment.

"Mom, you still in here?" Love asked after Caleb had called out for her. They didn't hear an answer and Love felt a bit worried. She walked up to the doorway with Caleb right behind her and peered in. She could see Lois hugging a tall man tightly. It also looked like she was pulling away from a kiss. She could feel anger building inside of her. Lois was cheating on Clark! "Mom! What are you…" Love had flicked on the lights, but she could see the man clearly. She started feeling faint. "Dad?"

Clark smiled as he let go of Lois and held her hand. "Hey Lovely."

Love's face was brightly lit with a smile. "Daddy!!" she yelled as she ran for him. She hugged him fiercely, so happy to have him back.

Caleb stood back at the doorway watching them. This was too weird. What if this wasn't real?

Clark let go of Love for a minute and just stared at Caleb. "Hey there guy." he said softly as he bent down on one knee.

Caleb just furrowed his brow as he walked slowly to Clark. Everyone in the room watched him curiously, not knowing what he was about to do. Caleb stopped in front of Clark and just stared at him. He reached out and grabbed his nose gently. He frowned even more as his hands clapped Clark's cheeks together. He pulled Clark's face forward and placed his forehead on Clark's. He squinted his eyes and looked deeply into the blue eyes his dad had. A smile appeared on his face as he took a small step back. This was his daddy. "You're really back home."

Clark broke into a full grin and Caleb ran into his open arms. He lifted him up and looked at Love and Lois with a wide smile. "Where's Evelyn? Is she better?" he asked with hope gleaming in his eyes.

Lois grimaced. "She's here, actually. After you…died…Bruce had her transferred here." Lois said.

Clark set Caleb down as he walked to the bed. Sure enough there was Evelyn. She was hooked up to more machines than he could remember. "How is she?" he asked as he stood by her bedside.

Lois walked to him and grabbed his hand. She leaned on him, so grateful to finally have him back. She wouldn't be able to live without him. "She slipped into a coma right after you killed Doomsday." she whispered as she tried to keep her tears down.

Clark didn't say anything as he tried to comprehend the idea. "Will she wake up?"

Lois closed her eyes and let a tear fall. "Alfred isn't giving her more than a week."

Lois could feel Clark tightening his grip on her hand. She looked up at his face and saw how stone-set it was. "There has to be something that we can do." he said with his jaw set.

"I've been looking everywhere for some kind of cure, but there's nothing." Lois' voice began to break.

Clark pulled her into a tight hug. "We'll find a way Lois."

Lois and Clark could feel Caleb hugging their legs tightly and soon Love was with them and they were all in a group hug.

* * *

Bruce walked down the hallway to Evelyn's room. He had sent Love and Caleb up thirty minutes earlier to get Lois. They never came back down and Alfred was wanting to watch the movie already. He stopped at the closed door. He could hear voices inside. He knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"

Caleb opened the door. A smile was on his face. It was actually a smile that Bruce hadn't seen since Clark died.

"Are you guys still going to watch the movie?"

Caleb shook his head. "Love, Mommy, and Daddy are asleep." Caleb stated.

Bruce frowned. He knew that Caleb pretending that Clark was still alive was very unhealthy. "Caleb, your daddy isn't there with them." Bruce told him gently.

"But he is. Look." Caleb opened the door wider and there was Lois, Love and Clark asleep on the couch by Evelyn's bed.

Bruce straightened as he saw Clark. Was that really him? It couldn't be. It was physically impossible. But this was Clark. It wouldn't be the first time he'd risen from the 'dead.'

Caleb looked up at Bruce with a smile on his face. "I think Santa heard one of my Christmas wishes." he said in a whisper.

Bruce looked back at Caleb and ruffled his hair. "I think he did." Bruce walked away from the scene. He wanted to let them get their rest.

* * *

Love opened her eyes and looked out the window. It was still snowing. She smiled as she remembered what happened last night. Dad had come home. She sat up from the couch and looked around. Aside from Evelyn, she was the only one there. Her heart began pounding out of her chest. What if it was just a dream? What if Clark didn't really come home last night.

Her breathing started sounding more like hyper-ventilating. The door opened and she quickly looked that way. Clark and Lois were there. "Dad! Mom!" she exclaimed as she stood up and hugged them tightly.

Clark held her tightly, glad to be able to hold at least one of his daughters. Lois hugged her back, but couldn't help the weird expression on her face. "Lovely, are you all right?"

Love let go of them and looked down, her cheeks tinting red. "I woke up and it was just me and Evelyn. I guess I kind of…freaked out a little."

Clark gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "Don't freak out. We're both here."

Lois smiled as she rubbed Love's back. "Merry Christmas Lovely."

Love sighed. It still didn't feel like a good Christmas. Evelyn wasn't improving. "I'm going to go eat breakfast." Love said as she walked out.

Lois looked to Clark. "I'm going to get some coffee. Do you want something?"

Clark shook his head. Lois walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She cast a glance at Evelyn. "She'll be all right." she said, half to herself.

Clark nodded as Lois left him alone. Clark walked up to Evelyn's bed and sat in the chair. He brushed back the hair that had fallen into her eyes. A grim smile appeared on his face as he grabbed her freezing hand. "I promised I wouldn't miss another Christmas. I kept that promise, Evelyn." he leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Merry Christmas, bud."

* * *

About an hour later, Clark was walking down the stairs. He met Bruce on the steps.

Bruce smiled at him. "It's good to see you back."

Clark was surprised at his calm reaction. "You don't seem too shocked.

He chuckled. "I had time to get over it last night. I came upstairs to ask Lois something and I saw you, Lois, and Love sleeping on the couch. I didn't want to wake you up."

Clark smiled his gratitude. "I think I almost gave Alfred a heart-attack when I walked into the kitchen this morning."

Bruce let out a small laugh. "I believe it."

The two of them started walking down the stairs together.

"You know Clark, I think that this could be the best Christmas present any of your kids have ever gotten."

Clark sighed. "It would've been better if Evelyn was awake."

Bruce nodded his understanding. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. "I know that neither you or Lois were able to go Christmas shopping and the bills must be pilling up, so I wanted to give you guys this for Christmas."

Clark took it from Bruce and opened it. He pulled out a check and his eyes nearly popped out at the amount. "Bruce, we can't take this!" Clark said as he tried giving it back.

"Clark, it's for Christmas."

"You've already done so much for them, for us, I couldn't take it."

"It's rude not to accept a gift in a lot of different countries. You've helped me out with a lot of stuff Clark, I'm just returning the favor. Besides, the money is definitely going to come in handy."

"What money?" Lois asked as she walked into their conversation.

"The money that's going to pay for your bills." Bruce answered before Clark could say anything.

Lois frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Clark and Bruce exchanged a look. Clark gave in. They had been running tight on money, especially with Evelyn's hospital bills. "Nothing Lo." Clark said as he grabbed her hand.

Lois didn't like being left out of the loop like this. She saw Clark place an envelop in his back pocket. Bruce gave a nod as he walked away. Something big had just happened.

* * *

Clark, Lois, Love, Caleb, and Bruce all sat in the kitchen talking about things. They explained to Clark some things that happened, how they faked his death and what they were going to tell people now. Clark took it all in. He couldn't believe that so much had happened to them while he was recovering. If he had known, he would've come back so much sooner. He also found out that Lois had lost her job at the Planet and couldn't find any work. Clark thought about the money Bruce had given him. It was to help them get back on their feet again.

Alfred walked in the room holding the phone. He looked over at Clark and had a bemused smile on his face. He still couldn't get over it. "Love, there's two people on the phone for you." he said. "Josh Wilkinson and Ella James?"

Love smiled as she stood up and grabbed the phone. "Thanks Alfred." she said as she walked out of the room with the phone in her hand.

Lois threaded her fingers with Clark's. His hands were warm. She smiled, glad that she was able to feel that warmth again. "Clark, there's something that I need to tell you."

Clark looked at her and couldn't help the pounding in his chest.

"It's about my pregnancy."

Clark swallowed the lump in his throat. The first thought in his head was that she lost the baby. "What is it?"

Lois looked down and if Clark hadn't been looking right, he would've missed the smile on her face. "We're having twins." she looked up at him with misty eyes.

A smile spread across Clark's face as he pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back. "This is great news."

Caleb and Bruce watched them silently. "You know, Caleb, one day, you're going to have a wife just as amazing as your mom." Bruce told him.

Caleb made a face. "But girls are icky."

Bruce chuckled as he pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small box wrapped in gold paper. "Merry Christmas Caleb."

Caleb looked down at the box and smiled. He didn't think that he was going to get anything this Christmas, but Bruce had gotten him something. "Thank you Uncle Bruce!" Caleb exclaimed as he began tearing the wrapping paper carefully. He opened the box and looked at what it held. He frowned at the gift it held. It was a card with some weird word. It looked French. "What is this?"

"It's a gift card to the best place in Metropolis to buy a bike."

Caleb's smile appeared as he stood up and showed Clark and Lois what he had gotten. Lois mouthed the words 'thank you' to Bruce. There was no way the could possibly repay him.

"Mom, Dad," Love started as she walked back into the room. "Josh and Ella want to know if they can come over tomorrow." Love said.

Lois looked at Bruce. "Would it be all right?"

"Only if you're fine with it." Bruce answered.

Lois looked to Clark to make sure he was in agreement. He nodded his head. "It's fine."

Love gave them all a smile as she walked back out of the room and finished talking with Josh and Ella.

"We should call your mom." Lois said. "Oliver, Chloe and Jimmy and their kids."

Clark smiled. It would be nice to see his mom again. "We should just make it a small reunion."

"Bruce, what do you say?" Lois asked.

Brue could only chuckle. "I think they were already planning to come by this evening."

Lois smiled as she looked up at Clark. She could already imagine how happy they were going to be. Now all that needed to happen was for Evelyn to wake up and be well.

* * *

Clark silently weaved his fingers through Lois' hair. She was laying on his lap, sleeping restfully. They were all in Evelyn's room sitting on the couch. Caleb was watching the TV at a low volume. Love continuously glanced at Evelyn and she seemed to hold her breath as she watched the heart monitor.

The door opened and Bruce came in. In his hands, he held two small boxes in his hand. "I have something for the girls." he said quietly so he wouldn't wake Lois up.

Love stood up and grabbed the box with her name on it. She opened it and looked at what it was. There was a small bracelet that was sliver. On the back was her initials engraved on it and the family crest. The one on the Superman suit. Love smiled as she gave Bruce a hug. "Thank you Uncle Bruce."

Bruce smiled as he hugged her back. He handed the other box to Love. It was for Evelyn. "Make sure she opens it when she wakes up."

Love closed her eyes and nodded. She held Evelyn's box in her hand.

Clark smiled at the interaction. Bruce had really learned how to deal with them all. He watched as Love walked towards Evelyn's bed and put the box on the nightstand. She just had to wake up.

The doorbell rang and Lois groaned. She sat up and looked around. "Who's here?"

Bruce walked out to answer the door and Caleb and Love tagged along with him. Lois looked at Clark. "Are you ready to face your family?"

Clark smiled as he gave her a kiss. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because they still think that you're dead."

"Lois, I can't wait to see them." he stood up and pulled her up along with him. "Come on,"

Lois sighed as she walked with him. She stopped for a minute and looked at Evelyn. She didn't want to leave the room and she knew that Clark didn't want to either. But they had to. She looked out at the sunset. Who knew if this was going to be Evelyn's last night?

* * *

Alfred opened the door as Bruce, Love, and Caleb were walking down the stairs. Martha and Oliver were standing in the doorway, bundled up.

"Nana!" Caleb exclaimed as he ran towards Martha.

Martha smiled as she hugged him. "Merry Christmas Caleb." she said as she handed him a present.

Caleb accepted it and gave her another hug. He then moved on to Oliver, hoping that he had a present for him too.

Love smiled as she gave Martha a hug. "Merry Christmas Nana." she said.

Martha replied the same as she handed Love a card. She went to Oliver and gave him a hug too. He handed her a card also.

"Where's Aunt Chloe and Uncle Jimmy?" Love asked.

"They had to stop at a gas station. One of the boys had to use the restroom." Oliver answered.

"Guess what!" Caleb exclaimed as he nearly started jumping up and down out of excitement.

"What's up?" Oliver asked as he put his hands on his knees and looked Caleb in the eye.

"Santa gave me one of my Christmas wishes!"

"What was it?"

"Daddy came back!"

Oliver frowned as he looked up to Love. She had a huge smile on his face. He turned to Bruce. "What's he talking about?"

Martha gasped as she looked up to the top of the stairs. She couldn't believe her eyes. "Oh my goodness…" she breathed out as her hand covered her mouth and tears sprang to her eyes.

* * *

Clark and Lois stopped at the top of the stairs. Neither made a move to start walking down. Clark grabbed Lois' hand and held it tightly. Lois squeezed it, encouraging him gently.

Something inside of Clark was telling him that something was wrong. His palms began to get very sweaty as nervousness settled in. "Something's not right…" he mumbled to Lois.

"Like what?" she frowned.

Clark let out a short breath of air. "I don't know. I just feel like something bad it about to happen."

"Smallville, what could possibly happen?"

Clark gave a wary look to where Martha and Oliver were then he looked back to Evelyn's room. "A lot of things."

"She will get through this. Evelyn's a strong young lady."

"Daddy came back!" they heard Caleb yelling in pure joy.

Clark smiled as Martha looked up to him. "We better start walking." he said to Lois with a smile.

Oliver stared at them both as they walked down the stairs. This was impossible. Martha didn't seem to notice as she ran to her boy. Clark ran down the rest of the steps and pulled her into a tight hug as she cried into his shoulder, tears of joy.

"Clark! My little boy!" she said as she rubbed his back.

Clark smiled. "I'm here, Mom."

Martha pulled back and held his face in her hands. She only smiled wider. "Oh Clark! Do you have any idea what you put us through?!" she started yelling at him.

Clark chuckled. "I love you too, Mom."

Oliver walked up to them and stared Clark down. "You just can't stay dead, can you Kent?" he shook his head incredulously.

Clark smiled and shrugged.

They gave each other a manly-hug. "I'm glad you came back. You still need to take care of your family."

Clark looked to Lois who was standing by his side. "Yeah, and I'm going to have more family in a few months." he said with a wide smile.

Martha and Oliver looked from Clark to Lois. "Are you pregnant?" Martha asked cautiously.

The door opened and Charles Olsen stood in the doorway.

"Sorry we're late!"

Everyone turned around and saw Chloe still walking up the steps and holding some bags, looking completely distracted. "Charles threw up on the way here."

"No I didn't Mommy! It was Christopher!" Charles defended as he turned to look at her. He turned back around and saw Clark. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

"Charlie, move!" Christopher yelled from behind him.

"Mom, Julie won't give me my iPod back!" Joanne exclaimed.

"Girls, just calm down. Julie give it back to Joanne." Jimmy said, sounding annoyed. "Charles could you go inside already so we can go in?"

"Mommy! Uncle Clark's here!" Charles finally yelled.

Chloe sighed. "Charles, Uncle Clark isn't here. Now move so we can get in."

Christopher pushed Charles and the two of them fell on the floor in a heap. They soon began wrestling on the ground, seeing who would gain dominance.

Chloe rolled her eyes as she stepped over them. "Jimmy, calm your kids down."

"_My_ kids? Oh, so when they act up, they're my kids?" Jimmy said as he walked in and looked at Chloe. The two of them seemed to be ignoring everyone else in the room.

Julie and Joanne walked in and they saw everyone watching them with amused looks. They mainly noticed their 'deceased' Uncle Clark. "No way…" Julie breathed out.

"It's Uncle Clark!" Joanne exclaimed.

"Would you kids stop joking around about that?!" Jimmy yelled. "Don't you see Lois, Love, Caleb, and Clark here? How do you think they feel when you…" Jimmy stopped and looked at Clark. He blinked a few times.

"Clark! I can't believe it!" Chloe exclaimed as she ran to hug him. "We thought you were dead!" she let go of him and let Jimmy hug him also.

"What happened? I thought the police couldn't find your body?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, Bruce sort of found me wandering around. When I crashed, I was thrown out of the car and into a cave. I'm just glad to be alive." Clark said.

The only people who knew that wasn't true was Jimmy and the Olsen kids. Clark knew that he would have to privately explain what happened to the people who knew his secret.

* * *

Caleb walked into Evelyn's room. He was bored downstairs as all the grown-ups were talking. He _would_ play with Charles and Christopher, but they were in time-out. While they had been wrestling, Charles punched Christopher and he started crying. Now Caleb had no one to play with.

Caleb sat down in the chair by Evelyn's bed. "Hi Evelyn." he said. He had no idea if she could hear what he was saying. It didn't matter though, he was still going to have a conversation with her. "Did you know that Daddy came back? I knew he was going to come back. He promised and Daddy always keeps his promises. And then Mommy said that we're going to have four new siblings. Did you know that? I didn't. Two of them are going to be your real sisters though. How come you didn't tell me about them? Wait…I remember! You did! Did you know that Charles and Christopher are grounded? Now I can't play with anyone. Evelyn, do you think I talk too much? I don't think so…but sometimes you and Love say that I do. Well, I don't believe you two. Mommy was talking with Uncle Jimmy and said that she was thinking about being a teacher again. Does that mean she's not working at the Daily Planet anymore? I really want to see Perry again. He was really nice. I would always get candy from him."

Caleb frowned as Evelyn's eyes remained shut. He thought that maybe if he talked enough, they would open and she would tell him to hush and let her sleep. He didn't like seeing Evelyn hooked up to all of these machines. It scared him. He remembered what Lois had told him. Evelyn had less than a week to live. She couldn't be right though. Evelyn wasn't going to die and he knew that for sure.

There was a loud, long beeping noise that Caleb never heard before. He looked up to the screen that Love told him about. She said it showed how fast Evelyn's heart was beating. Right now it said that it wasn't beating at all. "Evelyn!" Caleb yelled, hoping to wake her up. He stood up and ran to the door. "Mommy, Daddy! Come help! Hurry!!" he yelled as tears filled his eyes. Evelyn couldn't die, she just couldn't!

* * *

A/N: I feel horrible. I said I would update on Wednesday or Thursday and I'm updating on Sunday. I would've done it Saturday, but every time I tried uploading it, an error message would appear. I hope you like this chapter and please don't be too upset at the end! I'll try and get the next chapter to you sometime at the end of this week. Thank you everyone for reviewing and leave your thoughts about this chapter please!


	25. Hope

Hope

Clark sat next to Lois at the dining table. His arm was draped on the back of her chair and he felt great. He was here with his family. The only thing that was missing was Evelyn.

They were all sitting at the dining table, talking, laughing, and enjoy the last hours of Christmas day. Caleb had gone upstairs to Evelyn's room, mainly because he was bored. Clark knew that Lois was worried about Evelyn. She couldn't stand being away from her this long. Clark felt the same way. They hadn't told anyone about Evelyn's current condition. They didn't want to put a damper on things.

Jimmy looked at his watch. "Sorry, guys, but we've got to start heading home already." he said as he stood up from his chair. Chloe got up and so did Joanne and Julie.

"Yeah, we've still got to put the boys to bed and by the time we actually get them in the car, it'll be late." Chloe said as she walked to Lois and Clark. She gave them both hugs. "I'm so glad you're alive." she said to Clark.

"Trust me, so am I." Clark said with a chuckle.

They all said their good-byes and left.

Oliver leaned forward in his chair. "Now, do you mind explaining what happened?"

Clark shook his head. "I honestly don't understand it myself. I woke up in the Fortress and I remember feeling pain. Jor-el said that I was healing."

Martha couldn't believe. There wasn't a boring day when Clark Kent was in your life.

"Mommy, Daddy! Come help! Hurry!!" everyone heard Caleb yelling.

Clark immediately stood up and rushed up the stairs. Bruce followed close behind with the others. Clark stopped at the doorway of Evelyn's room and saw Caleb staring at Evelyn in fright. The heart monitor had flat-lined. "No," he breathed out.

Bruce came next to him. He was shocked at first, but he immediately got to work. "I want everybody out except for Alfred!" he yelled as he pulled Alfred in and pushed Caleb out.

Caleb ran for Lois and hugged her legs as he cried. Lois watched helplessly as Bruce pulled out a heart defibulator. Alfred shut the door. If Evelyn didn't make it, they didn't need to see it.

There was a complete silence in the hallway. "Clark…I…I'm so sorry." Oliver said softly.

"She's not gone yet. Evelyn will pull through." Clark said as he began pacing.

Lois sunk to the floor and held Caleb close to her. Love sat next to her and rested her head on her shoulder. Martha sat down with them and rubbed Lois' back gently. All they could do now was wait.

* * *

Alfred held the oxygen mask over Evelyn's mouth as he pumped air in through it.

"Charge!" Bruce exclaimed.

Alfred pulled back as Bruce sent electricity through Evelyn's body. There was no response.

Alfred put the mask back on and pumped the air in rhythmically. "Bruce, she's not going to respond!" This had been the fifth time trying.

Bruce held up the defibulator. "I can't let her die, Alfred. Charge!" Alfred pulled his hands back and let Bruce try and revive her once more. No response.

Bruce held his hands by his side. He hadn't been able to save her. He looked at the heart monitor. Nothing.

Alfred looked at his watch. "Time of death, eleven forty-seven P.M.."

Bruce took a sharp breath. Evelyn was…dead. "What are we going to tell them?"

Alfred let out a heavy sigh as he looked down.

There was a single beep. Alfred and Bruce looked up at the heart monitor. Two more beeps followed, gaining speed. Alfred grabbed her wrist and checked it. He looked up at Bruce with joy on his face. "She has a pulse!"

Bruce smiled as he checked the other monitors. They heard Evelyn moaning and she finally let out a flurry of coughs. Overwhelmed smiles came on their faces as Evelyn opened her eyes.

Evelyn squinted at the dim light. She had been in such a dark place for a long time. Any kind of light was too bright for her. Her throat ached as she began coughing some more. Her sight began focusing and she saw Bruce and Alfred staring over her. Confusion hit her like a speeding train. "Bruce? Alfred?" her voice came out like a croak. It must've been a while since she last spoke.

"Try not to talk, you're still weak." Alfred soothed.

Evelyn's hand went to her chest. She could still feel some pain. She remembered the last thing she had seen. Her dad, dying, on public TV. She started breathing faster. "Dad…is he…"

The heart monitor started racing. "Evelyn calm down." Bruce said. They didn't need her going into cardiac arrest. "Everything's fine."

Evelyn closed her eyes and swallowed. She did her best to follow Bruce's advice. "Where is everyone?"

"They're outside in the hallway. Let's check you out before we let them in, okay?" Bruce said as he started pushing some machinery to the side.

Evelyn nodded as they checked her heart and asked her some questions. They had told her she had been in a coma and didn't have a very high chance of waking up. She stared up at the ceiling as Bruce took her blood pressure. It was a miracle.

* * *

Clark rubbed his face with his hands. It had been thirty minutes and there was still no news. Caleb had fallen asleep in Lois' lap, but everyone else was awake. With every passing second, they were all losing hope that Evelyn would make it, not matter how strong they thought she was.

The door opened and Bruce came out. He closed the door behind him.

Lois and Clark stood in front of him, waiting for what they hoped was good news. "Is she still…" Lois started, but couldn't finish.

"She's still alive." Bruce said. They didn't seem to notice his smile.

Lois let out a breath that she had been holding and rested her head on Clark's chest. Evelyn was still alive and that news was good enough for her.

"There's more."

Clark and Lois thought it was bad news. They didn't know how much more bad news they could take.

"She's awake." Bruce said with a smile.

Silence filled the hallway again. "She's awake?" Lois asked breathlessly with a smile.

Bruce nodded his head, grateful to deliver good news.

Clark had a grin that spread from ear to ear. "She's really awake." he stated. "Can we see her?"

"She's still really weak and needs to get some rest." Bruce gave Clark a wary look. "Clark, can I speak to you in private?"

Everyone was silent as Clark felt something bad coming up. He nodded his head and the two of them began walking down the hallway away from everyone else.

"I thought you said everything was going to be all right?" Clark asked after a few silent moments. "It should be. Evelyn's extremely fragile right now and I don't want anything that could cause her emotional stress." "What are you trying to say?"

"Evelyn could go into cardiac arrest if she gets really upset or worked up about something." Bruce stopped and looked at Clark.

"But that won't happen…right?"

"She thinks you're still dead."

Clark frowned. "How did she find out about that?"

"Apparently, she saw it on the hospital TV. I think that's what triggered her to go into a coma."

"Then all I would have to do is go in there and tell her I'm still alive."

"But it would cause her to have emotional stress." Bruce paused for a moment as he gathered his words together. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't want you going in to see her yet."

"What?!" Clark yelled at him. He had to restrain himself from grabbing him by the arms.

"At least for a week, or until she gets some of her strength back. I don't know how much damage has been done since she's been in the coma and I still need to run a few more tests. After everything comes out with good results, then you can go and see her."

"Bruce, you have no idea what you're trying to ask of me." Clark spoke softly. "You're telling me that I can't see my daughter who almost died a few minutes ago."

"I know that this must be hard for you, but Clark, if you want her to get better, this needs to be done."

Clark ran his hand through his hair. "I'll do it, but I don't want to wait for more than a week." he looked at Bruce straight in the eye. "I need to see my daughter again."

Bruce nodded as he led him back to where everyone else was. He explained to them why Clark wasn't going to be able to see Evelyn yet.

"But won't Evelyn be happy when she sees Daddy alive?" Caleb asked.

"Yes, but she's also going to feel really confused. Remember when your dad came back and you felt really confused too?" Bruce tried to make it easier for him to understand.

"Yeah, but Evelyn wants to see Daddy." Caleb continued.

Clark bent down to his eye-level. "I know that Evelyn wants to know that I'm all right, but she needs to get better before I can go in and see her. She'll be all right." Clark said as he rubbed Caleb's back.

Lois walked to Clark. "Are you sure you're fine with this?" she whispered as she grabbed his arm.

Clark let out a heavy sigh. "Honestly I hate it," he whispered back. "But it needs to be done to be sure that Evelyn fully recovers."

Lois nodded as she gave Clark a small kiss. She led Love and Caleb into Evelyn's room. She closed the door with one last look at Clark, wishing that he was there by her side.

Martha turned to Clark. "It'll get better. Trust me." she said as she rubbed his arm.

Clark gave her a half-hearted smile. "Thanks mom."

"Listen to your mom, Kent. She's usually right." Oliver said with a slight grin.

Clark let out a small chuckle. "You have no idea." he gave Martha a hug.

"I've got to be going already." Martha told him. "I love you sweetie."

"Love you to Mom."

Oliver and Martha said their good-byes as they left Clark alone in the hallway. He watched them leave and he slid to the ground. He leaned his head against the opposite wall and used both his x-ray vision and super-hearing to know what was going on in Evelyn's room. As he saw Evelyn talking hoarsely with Lois, Love, and Caleb, Clark could feel his heart swell. She was awake and she _was_ going to get better.

* * *

Love looked at Evelyn as soon as she heard Lois close the door. Her eyes were closed and for a moment, Love thought she was still in a coma.

"Evelyn?" Caleb spoke as he walked cautiously to her bedside.

Evelyn opened her eyes slowly. She saw him and smiled.

"Evelyn! You're awake!!" Caleb yelled with joy as he jumped on her bed.

"Caleb!" Lois chastised as she heard Evelyn groan and grab her chest. She grabbed Caleb and set him back on the ground. She looked at Evelyn and saw how frail she looked, but she was awake. Lois brushed back some of her hair. "Hey there Evelyn." she said with a soft smile.

Evelyn smiled weakly. "Hi Mom."

Lois' smile only grew. Love came up behind Lois and looked at Evelyn. "You have no idea how much you've missed." Love said almost teasingly.

Evelyn attempted a smile as she looked up at Lois. "Was it true?" her voice was so soft, Lois had to strain to hear her.

"What's true?"

"About Dad…"

Lois and Love exchanged a look. They looked at Caleb who looked like he was ready to burst and tell her he was alive. "Don't worry about that right now." Lois said as she grabbed Evelyn's hand. "We need you to get better."

Evelyn looked up at the ceiling. In her heart, she felt that it was true, no matter how much she didn't want it to be. "What's today?" she asked.

"It's Christmas!" Caleb exclaimed. "Do you know what Bruce gave me? He gave me a gift card to a bike shop where I can buy whatever bike I want. And then he gave Love something, but I don't know what it was." Caleb started talking on and on.

Love rolled her eyes as she grabbed a box from the nightstand. "Merry Christmas Evelyn. This is from Uncle Bruce. Nana and Uncle Ollie left you a present too, but they're downstairs."

Evelyn grabbed the box, but didn't open it. She felt like she should wait. She set the box back down on the nightstand and let her head rest back on the pillow.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Caleb asked.

"Later." Evelyn replied.

Lois saw how tired Evelyn looked. "Come on. Let Evelyn get some rest." she said as she ushered Love and Caleb out of the room. Before Lois left, she bent down and gave Evelyn a kiss on her forehead. "I love you so much."

Evelyn smiled sleepily. "I love you too, Mom."

* * *

Lois came out of the room and saw Clark leaning against the wall waiting for her. Love and Caleb were already heading to their rooms.

"How is she?" Clark asked as he walked with Lois down the hallway. "She fell asleep just a few minutes ago. She sounds really tired." Lois said as the two walked to a window. They walked into an empty bedroom and they both sat down on the bed. Lois let her head rest on Clark's chest as he rubbed her arm soothingly.

"Bruce says there's a few more tests that he wants to run before he can say everything will be all right."

Lois was silent for a minute as she looked out at the wondrous moonlight. She stiffened and Clark could feel it. "What's wrong?" he asked, trying not to raise his voice.

"Did you ever find out what made Evelyn make that statement in court?" Lois lifted her head and looked at Clark.

Clark frowned. "No, we didn't really get to talk about that. Lois, what's going on?"

"What if some_one_ made her say that? They bribed her with something…" Lois began pacing the floor as she tapped her chin pensively.

"Lois, I don't really want to deal with that right now. Can't you just wait until she's out of bed?"

Lois ignored him as she continued with her thinking. "Remember she was worried about Lana saying something about your identity? What if she went to talk with Lana?"

"She wouldn't visit Lana in jail. Evelyn isn't on speaking terms with her."

"But she was so worried about you're identity getting out. What if she really did visit Lana. They talked and Lana told her she wouldn't say anything unless Evelyn lied about Lex in court."

"How would Lana even know that Lex was going to be going to court? She's in jail remember?"

"Somebody could've brought her that information. Don't forget that no matter where Lex is, he still has a lot of pull everywhere."

Clark sighed as he saw a gleam in Lois' eyes. It usually meant she was on a lead and nothing was going to distract her from it. "What are you going to do if it does turn out to be true?"

"I'm going to take it to the police and they'll send Luthor back behind bars where he belongs."

Clark smiled as he walked towards her and gave her a short kiss. "You should've been a detective."

* * *

Lois slipped on her coat as she grabbed her purse. It was early afternoon the next day and the sun was showing. "Smallville, I'm going. Period."

"Lois, no. I'm not going to let you go in your condition!"

Lois stopped at the door of the room they slept in last night. "My 'condition'?"

Clark grimaced. "Well, since your pregnant, you should really avoid stressful situations."

Lois rolled her eyes as she opened the door and began walking out.

"Lois!" Clark yelled after her. They were walking down the stairs as Lois headed for the front door with a set determination.

"Clark, I am going. You can't stop me." Lois declared as she reached the bottom of the steps. She wrapped a scarf around her neck and pulled out some gloves. It may have stopped snowing, but it was freezing outside.

"I know that you're going to get yourself in a situation that I'm going to have to pull you out of!"

Lois ignored him as she opened the door. "I don't care Clark! If it get myself in a mess then you will come and get me out of it like you always do."

They didn't notice the two teenagers staring up at them in both fear and confusion.

"You know as well as I do that the world isn't ready to see Supe-"

"Mr. Kent?"

Lois and Clark looked to the doorway and saw Ella and Josh staring at Clark in disbelief. Lois was the first to recover. "Josh, Ella, what a surprise. Come in!" she said as she opened the door wider with a smile.

Josh and Ella remained glued to the ground, still staring at Clark.

"I'm pretty sure they'd want an explanation, Lo." Clark said through a forced smile.

"Then give them one Smallville." Lois said in a sickly-sweet tone.

"You're supposed to be dead…" Josh muttered.

"I actually survived the crash." Clark stated, going with the story Bruce had come up with.

"But it was all over TV…" Ella added.

Clark frowned as he looked at Lois. "It was?"

Lois shrugged her shoulders. "Not that I remember…" Bruce didn't publicly advertise the crash.

"You came down…a big meteor…Mrs. Kent held you…" Ella started mumbling as she continued her rant.

"Ella!"

Everyone looked up and saw Love running down the stairs. "Ella, Josh, hey!" Love's voice was sounding extremely nervous.

"Um, hey…Love." Josh said as he looked at Love before looking back at Clark. "Your dad, he's…alive."

"Yes and Ella was explaining something to us." Clark said as he gave Love a hard stare.

"Yeah, Ella let's go talk. Josh you can go see Evelyn already." Love said as she dragged Ella away.

Josh watched them leave to a different room, still trying to recover from the shock.

"I'll take you to Evelyn's room." Lois said as she started taking off her gloves and scarf.

Josh followed Lois up the stairs, turning around every once in a while to look at Clark. He could not believe it.

Clark closed the front door and shook his head with a smile. At least he stopped Lois from going to talk with Lana.

* * *

Love shut the door to the room. She turned around and faced Ella.

"Your dad's alive?!" Ella nearly yelled.

"Yeah?"

"How? I thought that Doomsday thing really…messed him up." Ella didn't want to say anything that might still be a sore spot.

"My dad has this Fortress up North from Krypton. He was up there after Doomsday and he was healing."

"Is he…immortal?"

Love laughed. "No, he may be alien, but he's going to die one day like all of us."

"Wow…" Ella muttered.

"Yeah," Love said sounding happy. "But you can't say anything to my parents!" Love told Ella.

"Tell them what?"

"About you knowing the family secret. They would kill me if they found out I told you." Love explained.

"Why? Wouldn't they trust you to tell only people you know won't ever tell?"

"Well, yeah, but it's kind of dangerous that you know about this and therefore, your life is in danger right now and probably for the rest of your life you'll be in danger." Love said, not sounding too sure. She didn't know how Ella was going to react.

Ella didn't show any emotion on her face and said nothing for a few moments. "Okay then…I get to have more action in my life." she said with a grin.

Love let out a breath of relieved air. "All right. Now that we have things cleared up, let's go see Evelyn. Oh, but she doesn't know about my dad's resurrection."

Ella gave her a weird look. "Because she's in a coma, right?"

"Actually, she's awake." Love said with a large smile.

Ella's eyes widened. "You Kents are just full of surprises." she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

* * *

Josh swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked at Evelyn lying in the bed. He had expected more machines hooked up to her, but now it was just the heart monitor and something for her chest. He took a deep breath as he took a seat on the chair by her bed.

He grabbed her hand. It was cold. "Hey Evelyn." he said quietly. He looked around the room. It was better than the hospital. "So how do you like your new room?" Josh began the one-sided conversation. "It's pretty cool, your parents knowing Bruce Wayne. I haven't seen him yet though…"

Josh looked down at her peaceful face. He didn't know if he would ever see her open her eyes again. "I knew I should've told you sooner." Josh said heavily. "It's just…we've been friends for a while and…you're a really great person…" Josh looked at her closed eye lids as if he was looking her in the eyes. "I think I'm in love with you Evelyn…"

A weak smile came to Evelyn's face and she opened her eyes. "Josh Wilkinson, you have a lot of nerve." she said. Her smile only grew as she saw Josh's astonished face.

"Evelyn! You're awake!" he exclaimed.

Evelyn let out a laugh, only at the end it turned into a cough. She looked up at Josh with a serious face. "I think I'm in love with you too, Josh."

Josh didn't know what to do. His heart was about to burst out of his chest from all this joy. He did the only thing that seemed natural. He lifted up Evelyn's head and kissed her as if the world around them was coming to an end.

Evelyn was surprised and shocked at first, the heart monitor began picking up speed, but it slowly calmed down as Evelyn began reciprocating the kiss.

Neither of them knew how long they were kissing like that. They pulled apart when they heard an applause. There was Ella and Love standing at the doorway with huge smiles on their faces and they were both clapping.

"It _would_ take a life threatening situation for you two to finally admit your chemistry." Love said with a smirk.

* * *

"You left Lois upstairs alone?" Bruce asked Clark as they walked out of the elevator and into the Batcave.

Clark nodded his head. "I put Caleb on watch duty though."

Bruce smiled and let out a short laugh.

Clark looked at the papers Bruce has spread out on the table. "So you're positive that Doomsday is gone?"

Bruce nodded his head. "There's no way that he can come back. Any doubts you had about that can be put to rest."

Clark nodded his head, glad to be assured about that.

"When do you plan on going back as Superman?"

Clark sighed. "I wanted to wait until Evelyn's better, or at least until I can see her. If she realizes that Superman has come back from the dead, but I haven't gone to see her, it's going to make our relationship worse."

"I should give it a week then."

"If I see her within a week, then yes."

Bruce nodded. "I'll see what I can do then."

An alarm on the computer began going off, grabbing both men's attention.

"What's that?" Clark was afraid of what it might mean.

"Evelyn's heart monitor is picking up speed." Bruce said as he stood up and ran to the elevator.

Clark's eyes widened. Not again.

As quickly as the alarm came, it left. Bruce frowned at the abruptness. He looked to Clark as confusion spread across his face. "I'll go check it out." Bruce said as the elevator carried him up.

Clark clenched his jaw. He hated not being able to see Evelyn.

* * *

Lois wrapped her scarf around her neck and put on her gloves. She looked up to the stairs and was glad when she didn't see Clark coming down the stairs. He would be furious with her if he found out what she was doing.

"Mommy, where are you going?"

Lois looked down and saw Caleb in front of her eating a banana. He looked up at Lois, expecting an answer. "I'm going out for a little bit."

"Daddy told me to tell you that you can't go anywhere unless you ask him."

Lois raised an eyebrow. Clark put Caleb on watch duty? Seriously? "Well I asked him and he said it was all right for me to go."

"No you didn't." Lois put her hands on her hips. "How do you know if I did or didn't?"

"Because Daddy's in the Batcave with Uncle Bruce and the elevator is upstairs. You've been downstairs all day and you never went to go ask Daddy for permission.

Lois cocked her head. Caleb was more like her than she ever thought. "Okay, so I didn't ask Daddy. But if you let me walk out of that door, you will get the greatest surprise ever."

Caleb narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "What kind of surprise?"

"A dog." Lois blurted. It was the first thing that came to her mind. She regretted it immediately. She had forgotten about her allergies.

"Really?!" Caleb exclaimed as he started bouncing up and down.

"Yes, really, but you have to let me leave and don't tell Daddy."

Caleb nodded his head as he let Lois go through the door. He gave her a quick hug and said good bye.

Lois climbed into the car and started driving away. She had printed out the directions to the prison where Lana was. Lois lightly held the steering wheel. She wasn't going to let Lex Luthor be out in the world anymore as a free man.

* * *

A/N: I would've had this chapter up a long time ago, but as I was writing it, I got stuck on a small part. But thankfully, I figured it out and I finished the chapter! Hope you enjoy it and please leave a review/comment. I don't know when I'll be able to update this story though, but I'm definetely going to update it soon. :D


	26. Recovery

Recovery

Bruce knocked on the door. It was open by just a crack, so he pushed it completely open and looked inside. He saw Love, Ella, and Josh sitting around Evelyn who was sitting up in bed. He noticed that Josh had a very nervous look on his face while Evelyn was looking a bit dreamy. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, you have nothing to worry about, Uncle Bruce." Love said with an easy smile.

Ella turned to Love and whispered something to her. Love nodded her head and Ella stood up immediately while Josh looked at her funny. "Mr. Wayne, it's an honor to meet you." Ella said in her most formal voice.

Bruce chuckled as he walked towards her and shook Ella's hand. "It's always a pleasure to meet any of Love and Evelyn's friends."

Josh stood up also and shook Bruce's hand. "Yeah, and thank you for letting us come here. We really appreciate it." Josh ended the sentence with a glance to Evelyn. Evelyn just smiled weakly up at him.

Bruce narrowed his eyes at the two, even though they didn't notice. "Evelyn, how are you feeling?" Bruce asked as he started checking a few of the machines.

"Great." Evelyn said softly, not looking at Bruce, but at Josh.

Bruce started to frown at the looks they were giving each other. "Did something happen?"

"Um, like what?" Love asked innocently.

"Something to have made Evelyn's heart monitor race." Bruce looked at Evelyn, waiting for an explanation.

"Oh, I just got really excited when I saw Josh…and Ella."

"Really?" Bruce wasn't buying any of it. Something happened and none of them were telling. "Ella, am I right?"

Ella's eyes widened as Bruce started speaking to her. Love bit her lip as she prayed that Ella would remember to not tell Bruce. "Yeah, that's my name." Ella said.

"Do you know what might've happened?"

"I…um…"

Bruce shook his head. "I don't think I even want to know." Bruce said as he tried to hide a smile from his face. "Don't get into any kind of trouble." he addressed all of the teens.

They all nodded their heads as he slightly closed the door.

Bruce started heading back to the Bat Cave to tell Clark. He was going to be relieved it was nothing bad.

* * *

Clark sat on the chair with his head bowed and his hands clasped. He hated this. Not being able to see his own daughter. It was unbelievable.

The door opened and Clark looked up. Bruce came back in. Clark stood up and rubbed his palms together. "Is Evelyn all right?"

Bruce nodded his head. "She just got a little excited when she saw Ella and Josh."

"How's she doing?"

"Much better. She's definitely on the road to recovery." Bruce said as he walked to a computer and began typing something in.

"So when can I see her?"

Bruce stopped and he looked to Clark. "How about tomorrow?"

"Bruce, I-"

"I know that you don't want to wait any longer, but please, just to be sure. I don't want something to happen that could set Evelyn back even more."

Clark sighed heavily. This was ridiculous.

* * *

Lois stepped into the room where she was supposed to see Lana. She saw the empty table and she took a seat. She looked around, not knowing what to expect.

The door opened with a buzz and Lana stepped out in an orange jumpsuit. Her hands were handcuffed and she was being followed by a guard. The guard walked her to the table where Lois was already seated. "Ten minutes."

"We only need five." Lois said as she stared Lana down. She had changed so much.

The guard nodded and left the two women alone. "So did you come here to wish me a belated Merry Christmas?" Lana asked, her tone was sharp.

"Nope, more like a Happy New Year." Lois retorted. "Did Evelyn come to see you?"

"I see you didn't come here to chat some." Lana said with a smirk on her face.

"Answer the question."

Lana narrowed her eyes. "What's it to you?"

"Lana, please. I want this to end."

"If you want this to end, then you would just drop everything as it is."

Lois scoffed. "You know as well as I do that Lois Lane does not drop something this important."

"Well maybe Lois Lane needs to learn a new trick."

Lois clenched her fists under the table as she used all her willpower not to attack Lana. "You can answer my question right now and I won't bring you into this. Or I can find it out on my own and you could get into even more trouble." As soon as the words left her mouth, Lois inconspicuously reached into her purse and grabbed a tape recorder and began recording the rest of their conversation.

Lana narrowed her eyes. She may be in prison, but she wasn't an idiot. "She did come talk to me. I told her to lie about Lex in court and I would leave her alone forever."

Lois gave Lana a shallow smile. "Thank you." she pushed the stop button on the tape recorder and stood up. As she looked at Lana, she couldn't believe that this used to be the same cheerleader in Smallville High, or the same fairy princess on TIME magazine. Things sure changed for everyone.

As Lois walked out the prison and headed to her car, she remembered her promise to Caleb. Maybe she could find a dog at the animal shelter for a cheap amount of money.

* * *

Evelyn let out a bored sigh. Josh, Ella, and Love all managed to fall asleep. Evelyn didn't understand it. She was trying to _avoid_ sleep. She looked to the nightstand and remembered the Christmas present from Bruce that she never opened. She reached over and grabbed it.

Evelyn didn't know what to expect when she opened it. It was a simple small box with nothing extremely fancy on it. When she opened it, she didn't understand the gift. It was two airline tickets, round-trip, first class, to the Philippines. She grabbed the note that was at the bottom.

'I know how much you must want to go and visit again. This time, I'm just making sure you don't try and go by yourself. The second ticket is for a friend, or even one of your parents. Merry Christmas Evelyn.'

Evelyn held back a few tears. She only had one parent now. Bruce must've written the card before the whole Doomsday fiasco. She put the card and tickets back into the box and set them back on the nightstand and stretched out her arms and legs.

She wanted so badly to get out of bed. She had been in one for so long, she was afraid that she might've forgotten how to walk. Her stomach began growling, begging for food. An even better reason to get up.

Evelyn looked to Josh, Ella, and Love and could see that they were still asleep. She hoped that they would stay that way as she pulled the covers off of her. Evelyn took off the plugs that had her attached to the heart machine and carefully pulled out the IV in her arm. She sat up and began rubbing her legs slowly, trying to get some blood flowing.

Satisfied, Evelyn began moving her legs over the side of the bed slowly. They hung stiffly over the edge as she looked to her bare feet. They couldn't fail her now. She pushed herself up off the bed and had one hand supporting some of her waist. Other than that, Evelyn was finally standing again.

She smiled, loving the feel of it. She never realized how amazing standing could be. She began putting one foot in front of the other as she started walking. She could feel her legs beginning to get the hang of it again. As she reached the end of the bed, Evelyn lifted her hand and was now standing completely on her own.

She was doing it. She wasn't falling down. Sure, her legs were shaking some, but she was _walking_. This was amazing!

Evelyn continued walking slowly, with a smile on her face. She was going to make an attempt to go to the kitchen. Evelyn knew that probably everyone was going to be upset with her for trying to go to the kitchen, but that didn't matter to her. She was walking.

* * *

Clark walked out to the front door and saw Caleb sprawled out on the floor with two toy cars.

"Vroom, vroom! Beeeep!" Caleb's sound-effects seemed as if they could be endless.

Clark smiled as he walked to Caleb and scooped him up in his arms. Caleb let out a squeal of delight as he faced Clark. "Hey Daddy," he said with a bright smile.

Clark smiled back at him. "Hey guy. Have you been keeping watch, like I asked you too?"

Caleb nodded his head as if it were the most important thing in the world.

"Great. Has your mom come out here yet?"

"Nope…"

Clark frowned. "Are you sure?" Lois would've already tried to made an attempt at leaving.

"What would you say if I told you she did come?"

"I would ask you if you stopped her." Clark said with a raised eyebrow.

"And what would you say if she told me to tell you that she didn't leave?"

"I would be very upset with you for not doing your job right."

"Oh…but what if I told she said that she would get me a puppy if I didn't tell you?"

"Then she would get in trouble for trying to bribe you and you would get in trouble too, for listening to what she told you."

"Um…"

The door opened and Lois came in without looking up. "I'm back and I have something for you Caleb! Thank you so much for not telling your…" the words died in Lois' throat as she saw Clark standing there holding Caleb.

"For telling me what Lois?" Clark asked. "And what do you have for Caleb?" Clark tried to see what Lois was hiding in her coat.

"Um, you know what? I've really to go use the restroom." Lois said as she pushed whatever it was further into her coat

They're all busy." Clark said as he stepped in Lois' path.

Lois frowned. "Clark there' like fifty of them-"

"No, I asked you stay and you didn't. You bribed Caleb into making him not tell me that you left." Clark put Caleb down. "Lois, you could've gotten hurt or worse out there!"

Lois rolled her eyes. "Clark, I just went to a prison. It's not as if I was spying on a top mafia family. Besides, I think we now have something that could put Luthor behind bars." Lois said as she held up the tape recorder with one hand.

Clark couldn't help the surge of gratefulness, but he was still upset with Lois. "I don't want you throwing yourself into dangerous situations like that anymore, Lois. _Especially _now."

"But this was worth the risk!"

"This family has already been through too much! We don't need something else horrible happening."

Lois cringed as she felt a dull pain quickly becoming sharp in her stomach. She knew this was all normal, but it still hurt.

"Lois, are you all right?" Clark asked as he grabbed her gently by her arms.

Lois gulped. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"We should have Alfred check you out, make sure there's nothing wrong. But I would like to know what you're trying to hide in your jacket."

"Clark, I said I was fine, and this is for Caleb." Lois said as she pulled it out. It was a small white puppy that was wagging its tail.

Caleb's eyes widened and a smile spread over his face. "You really did get me a puppy!"

"You got him a puppy?" Clark asked in disbelief.

"Yes I did. You had Shelby while you were growing up. I just thought it would be fair to get the kids a dog too."

"Lois, the only reason why I had Shelby was because you _hit_ him with your car."

"But you still had a dog." Lois said with a smile.

Clark shook his head. He knew he would never win this argument. "Well you're coming with me. We're going to see if Alfred can make sure everything's all right with the pregnancy."

"Smallville, I don't need a check-up right now. I feel fine. I can have one later."

"Uh…Mommy?" Caleb began tugging at Lois' hand. He had been standing there, watching them talk and not really saying anything and enjoying his new puppy. But now he really had to say something.

"Do not be stubborn about this Lois. You're going to have a check-up."

"Mommy, look!" Caleb said earnestly as he pointed to the top of the stairs.

"The pains are normal Clark. I would probably have to go through them-"

"Mommy, Daddy!" Caleb yelled.

Lois and Clark stopped and looked down at Caleb. "Caleb, we're trying to talk. Besides, you can't be yelling in here." Clark said in a firm tone.

"But-"

"No 'buts.' You do not interrupt when we're talking and it seems important."

"But-!"

"Dad?"

Clark and Lois looked up to the top of the staircase.

"Evelyn's up." Caleb said quietly.

Evelyn was gripping the railing as if she were seeing a ghost. Oh wait, she really was. Her dad was supposed to be dead.

Clark bit his lip. "Hey there bud." he said as he slowly began approaching her.

Evelyn took a step back, but stopped. "You're supposed to be dead."

Clark frowned. "You saw it on TV didn't you?"

Evelyn nodded.

Clark walked to her and was followed by Lois. "Look, I know that was must've been…intense, especially having to see it on TV, but I'm fine now. See?" Clark held out his arms so she could inspect.

"But how-"

"I don't know if I really did die, but I do know that I woke up at the Fortress and I was healing."

Evelyn continued staring at him with wide eyes. He was alive. He really was here. A smile started coming to her face.

"Evelyn, are you all right?"

She heard Clark's voice, but it sounded fuzzy, as if he were talking from under water. Things started getting blurry as she tried hard to focus her vision. Her chest began hurting horribly. Her smile soon faded and turned into a grimace.

"Evelyn!" she heard Lois call out before she saw nothing but black.

Clark caught Evelyn before she could hit her head on the floor. "Evelyn! Evelyn, wake up!" Clark said as he shook her gently.

Lois quickly bent down and felt Evelyn's pulse. It was beating slowly, she could only hope it wasn't too slow. Caleb stood there in shock, holding the puppy close to him.

Bruce came down the hallway, heading to the kitchen, but he stopped when he saw the scene. He wasted no time and began checking her pulse. "What happened?" he asked.

"Lois and I were talking and then she showed up and I didn't know what to do so I went up to her and she just couldn't believe it. She just passed out." Clark said all in one breath.

Bruce nodded as his face seemed to calm.

"Is she all right?" Lois questioned.

Bruce gave them a quick smile. "She'll be fine. It seems like she just fainted. But she shouldn't have been up in the first place. Did she come out here on her own?"

Lois nodded.

"Well, we're going to have to take her back to her room." Bruce shook his head. "I can't believe she was able to get up by herself."

Clark smiled. "I knew she was strong."

* * *

Love slowly opened her eyes and let out a soft groan. She stretched her arms and smiled in a content way. She looked around. Ella and Josh had fallen asleep also. She didn't know how she had managed to take a nap. She had been doing a lot of sleeping already. Love frowned as she continued looking around. Something was missing. She looked to the empty bed and finally realized. "Evelyn!" she yelled as she stood up.

Ella and Josh jumped up when Love yelled. "What's wrong?" Ella asked. She hadn't looked around the room yet.

"Evelyn's not in the bed!" Love said as she ran to the door.

Before she could open it, the door opened on its own and Clark came in with Evelyn lying limp in his arms. Bruce and Lois were following him and Caleb stayed outside the room, looking in from the doorway. He had set the puppy down and it was standing right beside him.

Clark set Evelyn on the bed as Bruce began hooking her back up to the IV and heart monitors. "Are you sure she'll be all right?" Clark asked as he brushed some of Evelyn's hair back.

"Yes, I'm sure of it." Bruce reassured him. "She should be awake in a few minutes."

"What happened?" Josh asked as he looked at Evelyn. He didn't see any kind of physical harm on her.

"She fainted, but she'll be fine." Lois answered as she stood next to Clark.

"But how did she get out there?" Love asked.

"She was walking." Lois said with a smile on her face.

Evelyn let out a soft groan as her eyes began opening. She saw Clark and Lois standing over her, both with concerned looks on their faces. She acknowledged Lois' presence, but she couldn't help but be more interested in the fact that Clark was right before her. "Dad?"

Clark smiled. "I'm glad you're all right."

Lois turned to everyone in the room. "Do you mind if we get a moment alone with Evelyn. We just want her to get up to speed on things." Lois said with a quick smile.

Everyone agreed and left them alone in the room. Clark let out a sigh as he sat on a chair and Lois took a seat on the edge of the bed.

Evelyn was the first to speak. "How long have you been back?"

"A few days already."

"And you didn't tell me? Why didn't you tell me when I woke up?"

"Trust me, Evelyn, we both wanted to tell you, but we didn't. Bruce thought it might cause your heart to go into over-drive again." Lois said as she grabbed Evelyn's hand.

Evelyn smiled. She understood. "I'm glad your back Daddy." she said in a soft voice.

Clark smiled as he leaned over and pulled her into a huge hug. Evelyn hugged him back tightly and reached out to pull Lois into a hug.

* * *

Bruce looked up from his desk when he heard the door open. Lois and Clark came in. "Hey, how did everything go?" Bruce asked as he put away some of the papers he was looking over for his day job.

"Good, Evelyn was fine with everything." Lois said as she took a seat in one of the leather chairs across from Bruce.

Clark took a seat next to her. "I still can't believe she was able to get up and start walking on her own." he said with a shake of his head, but a smile on his face.

"I'll get Alfred to start helping her with physical therapy." Bruce looked to Clark and Lois. "Is there something else on your mind?"

Clark gave Lois a pointed glance. "Lois went to go see Lana after I told her not to."

"Yes, but I was able to get something that might put Lex back in jail." Lois pulled out the recorder from her pocket and handed it to Bruce. "Lana admits that she threatened Evelyn to lie in court. How she knew before all of us that Lex was getting out is a mystery to me. It's not a surprise, though."

Bruce took the recorder and looked at it. He then glanced up at Lois and Clark. He could see the victorious look on Lois' face while Clark looked a bit upset, but proud at the same time. He shook his head. He really loved this couple. "I'll do what I can and I'll hand it over to the police. In the meantime, Clark, when are you going to make a public appearance?"

"Soon, Bruce. Don't worry about it. I'm just waiting for the right moment." Clark stood.

Bruce nodded his head. He respected Clark's decision. He probably just wanted to spend more time with his family and not have to be interrupted by some call for help. In the meantime, everyone else from the league would continue keeping Metropolis as safe as possible. "Oh and where did that dog come from? The one that's been following Caleb around."

Clark gave a pointed look to Lois. "She bribed Caleb with a dog."

Lois smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "It worked."

Bruce shook his head. "Just make sure it doesn't make a mess inside. Alfred would have a cow."

"Don't worry. The lady said he was already potty trained."

Clark shook his head at Lois. He smiled a thanks to Bruce and they both exited the room. They walked together and went into the living room. Love, and Caleb were there watching a cartoon special. The puppy was laying on Caleb's lap.

"Can we go back up?" Love asked as soon as she saw Lois and Clark.

"Sure. Wait, where's Ella and Josh?" Lois asked.

"Oh Josh's mom picked them up about twenty minutes ago." Love answered.

Lois nodded her head as she took a seat on the couch. She caught the remote as Love tossed it to her. Love went upstairs while Caleb stayed seated.

Clark took a seat next to Lois. "Why don't you go upstairs with Love?"

Caleb shrugged his shoulders and looked down.

"Is something wrong?" Lois asked.

Caleb let out a sigh. "I want to go home already." he said in a semi-whine.

Clark and Lois both looked at each other. They had both thought about going home already, but they didn't know what to do about Evelyn. "Go upstairs and let me and your mom talk it over."

Caleb gave them a half-hearted smile as he walked up to Evelyn's room.

Lois grabbed Clark's hand. She turned down the volume on the TV and looked at Clark. "So when _are_ we going back to the farm?"

"I hope really soon. I just want to make sure Evelyn's all right."

"Clark, she was walking. She is recovering quickly. Ask Alfred and Bruce what they think." Lois paused. "The kids don't belong here in this huge mansion. They've grown up on a farm and that's where they want to be."

Clark grinned. "You can take them off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of them."

Lois laughed. "Exactly."

"I think you even have some farm in you too."

"I've been living on one for so long with this man who is the sweetest guy I've ever met. Oh, and he is the world's biggest sap." Lois said with a smirk.

Clark raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And how would this man react if he heard you calling him the world's biggest sap?"

"He would laugh and say it's true."

Clark laughed. He gave Lois' hand a squeeze. "I'll see if we can go back before the kids have to go back to school."

Lois gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you Clark."

"No problem, so long as we get to name the dog 'Krypto.'"

"Krypto? Smallville, we're not going to name the dog that."

"Remember you said that next time we get a dog, I could name him Krypto?"

Lois grimaced. She did remember. "But that was when you were annoying!"

Clark laughed. "You can't go back on your word."

Lois shook her head. "Krypto it is."

* * *

Lex looked at his calendar in his office at the Daily Planet. December 28th. Superman, nor Clark Kent had made any kind of special 'return from the dead' appearances. He had his doubts, but Doomsday had really done a good job at making sure Superman stayed dead.

Lex stood up from his chair and looked out the window. He could see all of Metropolis bustling through the snow, trying to get to work or to their families. This was his city and nothing could ever change that.

There was a knock on the door. Lex turned around and saw it opening to the Chief of Police with three other policemen behind her. "Lex Luthor, you're under arrest." she said as she pulled out the warrant for arrest.

One of the police moved behind Lex and handcuffed him. "What?! You can't do this! On what charges?!" he demanded.

"For manipulating Evelyn Kent to commit perjury in a court of law. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law."

The officers began leading Lex out of the Daily Planet. Throughout the entire time, Lex was exclaiming threats and accusations. The reporters of the Daily Planet watched in hidden glee as the tyrant was taken off his throne.

As the elevator doors opened to led Lex Luthor out of the building, Perry White stepped out of the elevator. Lex and the police officers went into the elevator and began their descent. Perry looked from the elevator to the reporters who were all silent and staring at Perry.

"What's everyone looking at? Get me some news, right now! Steve, I want you to call everyone that fired or quit and give them their jobs back!" Perry paused. "Call Lois first." he added in a quieter voice. He looked back to the people who were still watching him. "Come on people! News doesn't stop!"

* * *

A/N: Wow, I haven't updated in a really long time. I'm so sorry! Thank you everyone who reviewed though. I really appreciated them! I know I'll get an update to you guys by next week. It's going to be the last chapter and then there's going to be an epilogue. Anyways...enjoy this chapter!


	27. Renewed

Renewed

Lois looked down at some paperwork in front of her. They were job applications to several different newspapers. She really didn't want to work anywhere, but the Planet. She sighed as she tapped the pen against the table as she tried thinking. If Lex was still arrested, they were probably going to bring in a new editor and she didn't know if this new editor would want to re-hire her, no matter how good she is.

Her phone began ringing, bringing her out of her thoughts. She answered it without looking at the id. "Hello?"

"Lois, this is Steve."

"Oh, hey Steve." Lois said with a smile on her face. "How are things at the Planet?"

"They're great." Steve paused for a moment as he gathered his words. "I know you and your family must be going through a really hard time…and I'm really sorry about everything but…"

"Steve, you don't have to be sorry for anything." Lois knew he was talking about Clark's supposed 'death.' He might've even heard something about Evelyn, but she was doing so much better now.

"Well…you're job is being offered back to you."

Lois closed her eyes. She would love to come back, but she wasn't going to work there so long as Lex was the owner. "I can't."

"Why?"

"I am not going to work for Lex Luthor."

"Oh! He was arrested just a few moments ago! Turn on the news. I'm sure some news station has already heard about it."

Lois walked into the living room where Love, Caleb, and Clark we're watching TV. She took the remote away from Clark and turned it to the news. She sunk to the couch and a smile appeared on her face. In big, bold letters the words, 'Lex Luthor arrested', flashed on the top of the screen as a news anchor gave the report.

"Do you see it?" Steve asked.

"Yes I see it!" Lois said as she jumped up. "I'll take it!" she nearly yelled from delight. She looked to Clark who was giving her a questioning look. "Oh and can you give Clark his job back too?"

"Uh…Lois…Clark's dead." Steve said as gently as possible.

"No he isn't. He survived the crash. Right now he's still recuperating. So can he have the job back?"

Steve was silent for a few moments. He cleared his throat. "He's alive?! Well, of course he can have the job! Perry's going to be so excited to hear this!"

"Perry's back?"

"Yeah, someone told him that he could have his job back and that Lex was going to be arrested. Don't ask me how he got that information though."

Lois laughed. "All right, so when do we start?"

"Perry wants you in January eleventh and since you say Clark's alive, then he can come in on the eleventh too if he's feeling up to it."

Lois smiled brightly. "Great. Thanks so much Steve. Oh and don't tell anyone about Clark being alive. I want it to be a surprise." Lois said.

Steve chuckled. "No problem Lois. Say hi to the family for me."

"I'll talk to you later." Lois hung up the phone and looked at Clark with a huge smile on her face.

"Can you change it back, Mommy?" Caleb asked. He took little interest in the news that they were showing.

Clark looked at the TV then to Lois. "Lex is being arrested and from what I heard from your conversation, Perry's giving us our jobs back? This seems too good to be true. I'm having trouble believing it."

Lois smiled as she gave Clark a sideways hug. "You better believe it, because we start work again January eleventh. In a little less than a week and a half."

Alfred came in the room and announced lunch was ready. Lois turned off the TV and both she and Clark ushered Love and Caleb into the dining room. As they came in, they saw Bruce coming in pushing Evelyn in a wheel chair. Evelyn had a small pout on her face.

Everyone sat down and started eating. Evelyn had been eating a little more every day. While her chest would still hurt from time to time and she would end up taking medicine for most of her life, she was getting healthier everyday.

"How are you feeling today, Evelyn?" Love asked. She had seen Evelyn earlier that day, but she was in physical therapy with Alfred.

"Okay. I just really hate this wheelchair. Someone won't let me get up and walk." Evelyn said as she pointed a stare at Bruce and Clark.

"We don't want you wasting your strength too quickly. It's for your own good." Clark said.

"I know. I'd just rather walk." Evelyn said as she took a bite from her food.

"Mommy, when are we going back home?" Caleb asked.

Lois looked to Clark. She knew he and Bruce had talked about it, but by the time they finished, Lois was busy with something and Clark wasn't able to tell her what they agreed to.

"We're going back home tomorrow for New Year's Eve. Then on Monday, you and Love are going back to school." Clark answered.

"What? But what about Evelyn?" Caleb whined.

"She'll be doing school work too. Bruce was able to get her work from all the days she missed and from the days she going to miss."

"So when do I get to go back to school?" Evelyn asked. To be honest, she kind of missed it.

"Probably in February or March. It depends on how you do."

"What are you and Mom going to do for work?" Love asked. She had known about their unemployment, but she hadn't heard anything else.

"We're actually going back to work the eleventh. Steve called and said Perry was offering us our jobs back."

Love and Evelyn smiled, knowing the importance of this. Everything was slowly beginning to fall in place again.

* * *

"Is everyone ready?" Clark asked as he walked into the room that Evelyn had been staying in. The bed was made, all the machines were gone and Evelyn and Love were still in there. "We're ready. Mom's outside with the car and Caleb's somewhere downstairs with Krypto." Love answered.

"All right. Let's start getting in the car then." Clark said. He started pushing Evelyn in her wheelchair and Love walked right beside them. Alfred had said Evelyn would be able to walk within a week. Everyone was grateful for this, except for Caleb. He enjoyed getting rides from Evelyn while he would sit in her lap.

They reached downstairs and Clark let Love push Evelyn the rest of the way outside. He was going to look for Caleb. He found him in the living room staring up at the Christmas tree and holding Krypto in his arms. Bruce had said they weren't going to take it down until after New Year's Day. It was now New Year's Eve so the tree had only a little bit more time left.

"You ready to go, guy?" Clark asked as he stood behind him.

Caleb nodded his head, then looked up to Clark. "Can we have our own Christmas tree next time?"

Clark smiled as he lifted Caleb into his arms. "Of course."

* * *

Lois let out another sigh from her spot in the front seat. Clark knew she was trying to say something, but she wanted him to ask. "Is there something wrong, Lois?" They were about fifteen minutes away from the farm and all the kids were asleep in the backseat.

"I just don't understand why Bruce nor Alfred was there to say goodbye or at least come with us." Lois started.

"I can kind of understand why Bruce wasn't there, but not Alfred. Maybe he went grocery shopping?"

"On New Year's Eve?"

"I'm just throwing out ideas."

Lois bit her lip. "Do you think something might've happened?"

"Lois, if something happened, I would've known about it before we even left Wayne Manor."

Lois let out another sigh. "I guess you're right."

Clark pulled onto the dirt road leading to the farm. "Of course I'm right. Now don't worry about anything. We're going to have a great New Year's Eve. It'll be us and the kids and we can even watch the ball drop in New York."

Lois gave a small smile as Clark parked the car. "I guess anything would be great, just as long as we're home."

Clark turned off the car and turned around in his seat. "Kids, we're here."

Caleb was up and he immediately shot out the car. He dropped Krypto to the ground and the puppy ran after him. Evelyn and Love were still kind of groggy, but they still came out of the car. Evelyn was able to stand for a small amount of time, but Clark insisted that she sit down in the wheelchair.

"What are we going to do right now? It's New Year's Eve." Love asked.

Clark pulled out the keys and started to unlock the door. "We'll watch the ball drop in New York." he opened the door and turned on the light.

"Surprise!"

Everyone stopped and they all saw Bruce and Alfred, Oliver, Martha, Chloe, Jimmy and their kids, and Ella and Josh with their parents too. They had the house decorated with New Year's decorations.

"What's all this?" Lois asked with a smile as Chloe came to hug her.

"We just wanted to throw a 'Welcome Home and Happy New Year's' party." Jimmy said as he came up to greet them.

"Let me guess, it was Bruce's idea?" Clark asked with a slight smile.

"Nope. The credit goes to Oliver this time." Bruce said.

"Where's Christopher and Charles? I wanna show them my new puppy!" Caleb said as he looked for his cousins.

Chloe pointed him in the right direction and Caleb took off running. All the adults knew that within the hour, three boys were going to be in trouble. Love and Evelyn went off with Josh, Ella, Julie, and Joanne, while Clark and Lois stayed in the dining room where they talked and laughed with all the adults.

"So how long are you going to have to be in a wheelchair?" Joanne asked Evelyn.

Evelyn shrugged her shoulders. "I can walk, but my dad, Bruce, or Oliver don't want me to walk. They say that I still need to get more strength."

There was a knock on the door and Love jumped up. "I'll get it." she ran to answer the door.

There was a guy, about her age, standing there with a smile on his face. He had short curly hair that black and his eyes were brown. The smile on his face seemed to only grow when he saw Love.

"Um, who are you?" Love asked, trying to be polite and ignore his staring.

The guy cleared his throat. "My name isn't important, but you can call me Junior." he grabbed Love's hand and kissed it. "How could I have lived without seeing your beauty everyday?"

Love raised her eyebrows. Was this guy serious?

"What have we told you Junior?" a woman asked as she slapped Junior upside his head.

Junior just grinned as he looked up at her.

The man standing next to the woman shook his head. "Hey, is there a Lois Lane here?"

"Yeah, let me go get her." Love said as she smiled to the man. She scowled at Junior then went into the dining room to get her mom. "Someone's here for you." she told her.

"Who is it?" Lois asked.

Love shrugged her shoulders.

Lois grabbed Clark's hand and they both walked to the door. When Clark saw who it was, he couldn't believe it. "Pete Ross?"

Pete looked at him stunned. "Clark? You're supposed to be…"

Clark shook his head. "Don't believe everything you see on TV."

They both hugged and started laughing. "Man, you look old!" Clark said as he took in the gray hairs in Pete's hair.

"Hey, you don't look too good yourself, either."

Clark laughed. "Pete, this is my wife, Lois Lane-Kent." Clark said.

"The same Lois Lane you'd complain about back in your senior year."

Lois poked Clark gently in the ribs as he chuckled. "Yeah, she's still same Lois Lane."

"Well, this is my wife, Rosa Pate-Ross and my son, Clark Junior, but we just call him Junior."

Lois suppressed a loud laugh while Clark turned bright red. "Clark Junior. That's a wonderful name. Isn't it Clark?" Lois said as she recovered.

Clark nodded as he gave Lois a short smile. "Come in, we're having a party anyways."

Lois led Rosa into the dining room and Junior found his way to the living room where all the other teenagers were gathered. Clark was about to walk into the dining room, but Pete stopped him. "Watch this." Pete said as he pointed at Junior.

Junior took a seat next to Love and Love gave him a quick glance, but then turned back to what she was doing previously. Junior scooted closer to Love and Love just scooted further from him. Junior started talking to Love and she was about to get up. Junior stopped her and started telling her something else. Love was taking interest and before Clark knew what happened, both Love and Junior were talking and laughing.

"Seems like quite the charmer." Clark said, trying to keep the spite out of his voice. Love _was_ his daughter and Junior was trying to put the moves on.

"Gets it from his dad." Pete said with a grin.

Clark nodded his head. "That's my daughter."

"Oh…well I know he won't try anything he shouldn't." Pete said as he tried covering for his son.

Clark just chuckled. "Yeah, that's Love and Evelyn, my other daughter. She's been sick, but she's getting better. I've got a son, Caleb, upstairs, we're adopting two from the Philippines, and Lois is pregnant with twins."

Pete did the math in his head. "Wow, Clark Kent a father of seven. And I had trouble with just one."

Clark and Pete laughed as they walked back into the dining room.

* * *

"Hurry! They're about to start the countdown!" Love yelled to the remaining adults. Bruce, Alfred, Oliver, and Pete and Rosa we're the only ones left. Josh was there too, but his parents had gone back home already. Caleb was upstairs in his room asleep.

Everyone who wasn't already in the living room gathered around the TV as they watched the famous ball begin its descent. The camera zoomed in on the ball and the people began counting down. Something strange started happening to the pole on which the ball was suspended from. It was shaking from side to side. The crowd had stopped counting down.

"Something's wrong." Clark mumbled.

There was a loud crashing noise and the ball starting falling at a much faster pace. There were screams from the crowd. The pole the ball was on had broken. Lois turned to look at Clark, but he was gone. Outside there was a loud sonic boom. For everyone who knew about Clark, they all had hidden smiles on their faces as they continued watching the TV.

The ball continued dropping towards the crowd as the police tried to get everyone to back away. Even if they were able to get some people out of the area, the pieces from the ball would still go flying everywhere and hit the bystanders. Lois held her breath as the ball continued falling, not seeming to stop.

Just as the ball was a few feet from the ground, it stopped suddenly. The camera zoomed to the top of the ball and there was Superman holding it in the air. The crowd was silent as they stared up at the hero they thought was dead. Superman just smiled at them.

"Ten, nine, eight…" Superman started the countdown again.

The crowd started yelling and going along with the countdown. "Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

Superman carefully set the ball on the ground. "Happy New Year's everyone." he said with his charming smile. He waved at the cameras and took off in the air.

The shot changed to a news anchor. "It looks like the world's favorite superhero has come back to life…"

Lois smiled. He had done it. He was back. "Happy New Year's big guy."

Everyone turned to each other and began wishing each other a happy new year. Lois smiled as she gave her two girls a hug. She turned around and there was Clark right in front of her. "Happy New Year's Lois."

Lois smiled at him as she threw her arms around his neck. "Happy New Year's Smallville." she gave him a deep kiss. "Glad you're finally back." she said as their lips finally parted.

Clark smiled as he looked in her eyes, but then something behind her caught his attention. Evelyn was standing up and she had her arms around Josh's neck, much like Lois had them around Clark. Except they were both in a lip lock. "Josh Wilkinson!" Clark yelled.

Everyone turned around and looked at Josh and Evelyn. They had broken from their kiss and were now looking at Clark and Lois with guilty looks. "Mr. Ke-Kent." Josh stuttered.

* * *

"Lois, are you sure? The judge said that you didn't have to go. Only one of us did, since you are due at any moment."

Lois drank the last of her milk and stood up. She grimaced as she felt strain on her back. She gently rubbed her large stomach as she tried picturing her two pairs of twins. "Clark, I'm not 'due at any moment.' I'm due next week. I think it would be fine for me to go. Besides, you already bought tickets for two."

"No, Evelyn gave us the tickets for two. We can use the other one later."

They heard a clamber of footsteps coming down the stairs. Caleb was the first one to come down, and he was followed by Love and Evelyn. "What's for breakfast?" Caleb asked as he opened the door and let Krypto in.

"Pancakes and eggs." Lois said as she set down three plates.

All three of them looked at the food suspiciously. Lois rolled her eyes. "Your father made it."

Grateful to hear that news, they all dug in.

"We're leaving already." Clark said as he grabbed a bag. "Evelyn, Love, you have the emergency numbers right?"

Evelyn pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket. "Yes."

"Oliver will be here in a few hours to take you guys out, then you're going to spend the night there with him. While you are waiting for him, no _guys_ allowed." Clark said as he intentionally looked at Evelyn. Ever since Evelyn and Josh had officially begun dating, Clark had been very strict about having Josh over. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, he just had a hard time seeing Evelyn with a boyfriend. Love on the other hand had been talking a lot with Junior Ross. Clark trusted Junior for _nothing_. If he really was just like his dad, then Clark was going to have to be careful with him.

"Love, Evelyn, be nice to Caleb. Don't boss him around." Lois said.

"We're always nice to him." Love said with an innocent smile.

"We'll be back in a few days. And we'll be back with your new sisters." Clark said with a smile.

Clark and Lois hugged and kissed each one of their kids. Within a few minutes, Lois and Clark were out the door and headed to the airport.

There had been several changes in the Kent household during those months. Clark had built an entire new room for Katrina and Esmeralda. They had bought two bassinets and put them in Clark and Lois' bedroom. When the twin babies were born, they were going to stay with Clark and Lois. They would worry about where they would permanently sleep later.

All of Evelyn's hospital bills had been paid for and they were completely out of dept thanks to a few good friends of theirs. Clark was even starting to look into buying back some land that Jonathan had previously sold.

Yes, there family had grown a lot. Never did Clark nor Lois think they would have such a big family.

* * *

Lois closed her eyes as the pilot announced they were about to land. She placed her hand on her stomach. The twins had been moving around a lot during the flight. Lois smiled as she began rubbing her stomach. She wondered if it was going to be two boys or two girls or a combination. She and Clark had decided on keeping the gender of the twins a surprise.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Clark asked as he grabbed her hand.

Lois laughed. "Yes, Smallville. Now stop worrying about me. Tonight we're going to pick up Katrina and Esmeralda, sign a few papers tonight and tomorrow we're off again. I'll be fine." Lois said as she reassured him.

"I just don't want something bad to happen to you."

"What could possibly happen?"

Clark gave her a pointed look as he began thinking of a million things.

Lois shook her head. "Clark, I don't want you worrying about anything. Alfred said it would be fine for me to travel, the kids are with Oliver right now and I'm here with you. Stop worrying and enjoy the moment for me. Please?"

Clark sighed. "Just for you then." he gave her a kiss as the plane landed.

The taxi Lois and Clark were in, pulled up to a courthouse in downtown Manila. Katrina and Esmeralda were already here and were waiting for Clark and Lois to pick them up. Lois' smile grew as she grabbed Clark's hand and they walked in the courthouse. They asked around for a bit, until they were finally directed into the right direction. They had come to the Philippines to visit the girls a few times and for some legal stuff also, but now they were coming to pick up their adopted children. Nothing could describe how excited they were.

They opened a door and there was Katrina and Esmeralda sitting on a wooden bench with their few belongings. When they saw Lois and Clark, their faces lit up. They set aside their stuff and hugged Lois and Clark tightly.

"Are you our parents now?" Katrina asked Lois.

Lois smiled as she kissed the top of her head. "Of course we are. And you're our little girls."

Katrina and Esmeralda hugged Clark and Lois even tighter. Lois let out a soft gasp as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. One of the twins had just kicked and this time it really did hurt. She started feeling a sharp pain in her lower back.

Clark heard her gasp. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to use the restroom." she said. "You can go ahead and start signing the papers." Lois quickly walked out of the room and headed for the restroom. She went in and locked the door behind her. She leaned on the wall as her breathing was becoming shorter. She winced and held in a yelp as she felt them kicking some more.

The kicking stopped and Lois' eyes widened. She looked underneath her and there was a puddle of water. Her water had just broke.

Esmeralda and Katrina watched Clark as he signed his name on a few legal papers. He looked up when he heard the door open and Lois come in. Her face was slightly pale and he could see her hands shaking. Clark stood up from his seat. "Is everything all right?"

Lois gave him a smile and a nod. "Everything's fine. Let's just hurry up and sign these papers." Lois walked to the desk and quickly scratched her name on the papers. She was done within a few minutes, but Clark was still signing. "Clark, honey, do you think you could hurry?" Lois said in a tight voice. It was something that wasn't unnoticed by Clark.

"All right…" Clark started signing things a bit faster. "And you're sure you're all right?"

"Yes, I just…really need to…" To what? Go to a hospital? When Love and Caleb had been born, Alfred had delivered them because of their heritage. "Go back to the hotel."

Clark finished signing the papers and handed them to the man that was waiting for them. Katrina and Esmeralda grabbed their things and they went back out. During the ride to the hotel, the twins were chatting with Clark and Lois. Lois was trying her best to pay attention, but she would get contractions and have to bite her tongue to keep from yelling. Once they were in the hotel room, she could tell him.

They stepped out of the taxi, paid the fare and started walking into the hotel. Clark carried all of the girls bags while Lois walked with them, both of them holding on to one of Lois' hands. Lois tried her very best not to squeeze their hand when she felt a contraction coming. Lois opened the door to the hotel and smiled at the girls. "We're here. How about you two go watch some TV for a minute?"

"All right…Mom." Esmeralda said with a grin. The word was still new to her and for her to call Lois 'mom' was something that made her feel warm inside.

Lois smiled at them, but quickly turned to Clark and pulled him inside the restroom. She locked the door behind them and sat on the edge of the bathtub.

Clark gave her a strange look. "Lois? Why are we in here?"

Lois shut her eyes tightly and held in a yell. "Clark…" she started through gritted teeth. "I'm in labor."

Clark just stared at her, blinking a few times. "What?"

"I'm in labor." Lois was starting to get angry. "I can't believe I let you do this to me _again_!"

"You're in _labor_?"

Lois groaned. "Yes! And the contractions have been really close together and I don't know how far dilated I am and I need someone who can deliver these kids!"

"Let me go get Alfred!" Clark said as he started towards the door.

"There's no time! I think these kids are already starting to come out!"

Clark took a few deep breaths. "Okay, you just do those breathing exercises and I'm going to go get some supplies." he walked out of the restroom and closed the door behind him.

"What's wrong with Mom?" Esmeralda asked. Apparently the two of them had been able to hear Lois shouting.

"Uh…she's about to have two babies right now. And I need you two to stay put." Clark said as he started going through one of their suitcases. He had brought along some stuff, just in case something like this were to happen.

"You should take her to a hospital!" Katrina exclaimed.

"No, sweetie, she's not going to a hospital. Just stay here and don't worry about anything." Clark told them as he went back into the bathroom. To say Katrina and Esmeralda were shocked was an understatement.

Lois was now sitting on the ground with her fists clenched by her sides. "Do you have ice chips?"

Clark grabbed a water bottle and froze it with his breath. He took out some of the ice and handed it to Lois who started to chomp it down. "How're you feeling?" Clark asked in a shaky voice.

"Like two little kids are trying to get out of my stomach." Lois replied sarcastically.

Clark smiled at her then checked to see how far she had dilated. His eyes went straight to hers. "When did you say you went into labor?"

"Back at the courthouse." Lois grimaced as she felt another contraction.

They were at the courthouse a few hours ago. "Lois, you're already dilated by 9 centimeters."

"Great, I still have to wait for that stupid last centimeter."

Clark checked again. She had gone from nine to ten. "Lois, it's time to start pushing."

Lois' eyes went wide as she looked at Clark. "Are you ready?" her voice was soft, but still filled with pain.

Clark nodded. "Come on, Lois. You can do it."

Lois did as he said. She pushed and pushed, yelled out curses at him, swearing she was never going to do the deed again, but it was only because of the labor. Or at least that's what Clark hoped for. It seemed like an eternity, but Lois finally gave birth to their twins. The first one out was a boy, Calvin James Kent, and the second was a girl, Lisa Maggie Kent.

Clark held Lisa and Lois held Calvin. They were sitting on the bed and Katrina and Esmeralda were gathered around them, cooing at the newborn babies. "They both look exactly like you." Clark said as he looked at Lois.

Lois smiled as she gave Calvin a kiss on his forehead. "At least we won't have a hard time telling them apart."

* * *

A/N: This is the last official chapter of this story. I'm going to post an epilogue tomorrow though. Haha, I feel so good for getting this out so soon. :D Hope you guys enjoy this!


	28. Epilogue

A/N: This is the ending for this story. It went in so many different directions, that not even I saw coming. Anyways, thank you everyone who read this story and to those who reviewed. It was greatly appreciated. I don't know when I going to come out with another story, but I've already got some ideas brewing in my head. I really hope you all enjoy this final installment! =D

* * *

Epilogue

Ten years passed. Love and Evelyn were graduated from college and Katrina and Esmeralda were graduated from High School. Esmeralda was studying at MetU while Katrina decided to join the Air Force. Caleb was a Freshman in high school and Lisa and Calvin were in fifth grade. Evelyn and Josh continued dating on and off until they got married two years ago. Love was dating Clark Junior after they finally decided to stop their flirting and admit they had feelings for each other. Katrina wasn't currently dating anyone at the moment while Esmeralda was dating one of the guys from school.

Lois and Clark were still working at the Daily Planet. They may have not been promoted, but Perry gave them a very generous raise two years after the twins were born. Clark continued with his Superman duties and would train Love and Caleb, now that they had all the powers they would get. Lisa and Calvin were still developing a few powers, but Clark only showed them how to control their powers. When they were older, he would start training them.

"Mom! Krypto's chewing on my shoe and he won't give it back!" Lisa yelled as she ran down the stairs.

"Caleb, get your dog to let go of your Lisa's shoe!" Lois yelled from the kitchen.

"Are you sure you're fine, Mom?" Evelyn asked as she put the mashed potatoes on a dish.

"You seemed really worried." Calvin chimed in.

Lois looked at Evelyn and Calvin. "I'm not worried. I'm frustrated."

"With who?"

Lois narrowed her eyes as she looked out the window. "With your father."

Evelyn and Calvin exchanged a glance.

A car pulled up in the drive way and Katrina came out of the car.

"Katrina's back!" Caleb yelled as he jumped off the stool and ran out the door. Lisa, Caleb, Esmeralda and even Krypto all came down the stairs to greet Katrina.

Evelyn and Lois smiled as they watched everyone hug Katrina. She was finally here for their Thanksgiving dinner.

"So do you know when Love's coming?"

Lois shrugged her shoulders. "Junior's family does lunch for Thanksgiving. She said she was going with him this time because they wanted to talk to his parents about something. They are still coming for our dinner though, Love promised. She said that they had to tell us something also."

Evelyn looked to Lois with a smile. "Do you think they're engaged?"

Lois smiled right back at her. "I hope so."

Evelyn turned back to the stove. She grabbed the pot with the corn and started putting it in a dish. "Well, me and Josh have something that we need to tell you guys too."

"Speaking of Josh, where is he?"

"He went to the store to get some milk. There was none in the fridge."

The door opened and everyone from outside came in. Katrina gave Lois and Evelyn a hug and a kiss as she unbundled herself. It was cold for Smallville that Thanksgiving.

The front door opened. "We're here!" Love announced as she and Junior came in the room.

They greeted everyone, but they were missing someone. "Where's Dad?" Love asked as Junior took her jacket and hung it on the coat rack.

Lois shook her head. "Your father decided to wait until the last minute to get a turkey this year. I sent him out to look for one."

"He's never going to be able to find one." Caleb said with a frown as he sat down and started petting Krypto.

"I don't think we're going to have a turkey this year guys."

Josh came in through the back door with three gallons of milk. "Hey, have you guys seen the news?" he asked as he quickly put away the milk.

"What's wrong?" Lois asked with worry. She hoped that some emergency didn't call Clark away as Superman.

Josh went into the living room and everyone followed him. He turned it on and put it on the first news station.

"…where Superman stopped by to purchase a turkey!" A clip began playing where Superman was standing in a store and employees were taking pictures with him. It skipped to a different scene where the manager of the store was handing Superman a twenty-pound turkey that had already been cooked to perfection.

Superman turned to the cameras. "I would just like everyone to know that this turkey is for a family who didn't have the means to buy a turkey this year. This family is close to me so I decided to do a favor for them." Superman slipped a bill into the manager's hand, careful not to let the cameras see how much it was. When the manager unfolded the bill, it surprised him.

"Superman, I can't take this from you!" the manager exclaimed, but the hero had already left.

The door opened. "I've come with the turkey!" Clark said as he careful put the turkey on the middle of the table.

"Smallville, I can't believe you pulled a stunt like that!" Lois exclaimed as everyone else took a seat at the table.

Clark just laughed and pulled Lois in for a hug. "I paid them how much it really cost." he gave her a quick kiss then led her to the table.

"All right, before we start eating, I want everyone to say at least one thing they're thankful for this year." Lois said as she took her seat next to Clark.

Lisa started, being the youngest. "I'm thankful that Krypto didn't destroy my shoes." she said as she looked at Caleb through narrowed eyes.

Lois rolled her eyes. "Calvin, your turn."

"I'm thankful for Mom, and Dad, and Evelyn, and Love, and-"

"Calvin, can you keep it short? We're kind of hungry here." Esmeralda interrupted.

Calvin stuck his tongue out at her. "Fine. I'm thankful for all my family."

Caleb went next. "I'm thankful for all the food on this table."

"I'm thankful that we're about to enjoy this food." Esmeralda said.

"I'm thankful that I was able to leave the base and come home for Thanksgiving." Katrina said.

"I'm thankful for the direction my future's taking." Love said with a secret smile directed towards Junior.

"I'm thankful for my health." Evelyn said. She would say that ever since she had gotten better.

"I'm thankful for my beautiful wife." Josh said as he grabbed Evelyn's hand.

"I'm thankful I'm still alive." Junior said with a slight gulp.

Lois thought Junior's statement was weird, but she didn't say anything. "I'm thankful for meeting Clark in the cornfield back in High School. If I didn't, then none of us would probably be here."

Clark smiled at Lois. "And I'm thankful for everyone here, even Josh and Junior." Clark added.

"All right, let's eat!" Lisa said as she grabbed her fork and began stuffing her face with corn.

"Table manners Lisa."

"Learned them on a farm, Mom." Lisa retorted.

Clark grabbed the knife and began carving the turkey. He passed out all the pieces he cut and even gave a small chunk to Krypto.

"Evelyn says that she and Josh have something to announce." Lois said.

"Hey, but so does Love and Junior." Evelyn pointed out.

"Why don't you guys go first?" Love offered sweetly. She glanced over at Junior and could see his face paling.

"No, I think everyone would rather hear your news first." Josh insisted.

"Please, don't make us go first." Junior pleaded.

"Then why don't you say your news at the same time and we'll see who we hear first." Katrina said after she swallowed some of her food.

Love and Evelyn looked at each other. "I don't know if that would work." Love said.

"You can't say it doesn't work unless you've already tried it." Lois said. "Let's hear them both."

"I'm pregnant!" Evelyn and Love both said at the same time.

Everyone at the table was silent and Junior looked as if he might pass out.

"Both of you are pregnant?" Clark questioned. He didn't look at Evelyn or Love. Instead, he looked at Josh and Junior.

"This is great news! You're both pregnant!" Lois exclaimed as she got up and gave both Evelyn and Love a hug. "When are you due?"

"Lois, are you serious?" Clark said. You could see the annoyance in his voice.

Lois looked at Clark. "Geez Smallville. Are your tighties in a bunch or something? Evelyn and Love both announced that they're pregnant!"

"I guess I'm fine with Evelyn, but Love! They're not married!"

"Oh don't you dare open this can, Kent." Lois said as she walked towards Clark. "Remember that you knocked me up with Love before we were even _remotely_ close to getting married."

"Uh, actually Mr. Kent, I proposed to Love before she told me she was pregnant." Junior said as he tried keeping his voice from shaking. Right now, he was scared of Clark.

"And I'm assuming she told you all about Krypton?"

"Dad, I told him about a year ago." Love answered for Junior. "Look, Dad, we're not having this baby out of wedlock. By the time it's born, we're going to be married. My name will be Love Martha Kent-Ross."

Clark's face saddened a bit. Lois took her seat again and grabbed Clark's hand. He smiled as he looked at their intertwined hands. Evelyn and Love were pregnant and Love was also engaged. "Then congratulations to you both." he said with teary eyes. He cleared his throat. "And Junior…welcome to the family."

After Clark said that, everyone lightened up and they began talking excitedly about Love and Evelyn's future kids.

"Dad, what did Mom mean when she said that you knocked her up with Love?" Calvin innocently asked.

Clark turned a bright red while Lois and the older ones burst into laughter. Calvin and Lisa were the only ones that didn't seem to get the joke.

This was them. This was the Kent family.

**The End**


End file.
